CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 12, 2009 Gresham CollegeKen Costa, the chairman of investment bank Lazard, has been hired as the college’s professor of commerce, giving a series of lectures on “Reshaping commerce in the post-crisis world”. Costa joined Lazard as chairman in 2007 and, prior to that, was vice-chairman of UBS Investment Bank. He is also a member of the advisory [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 12, 2009 CHLORIDEKBC Peel Hunt cut its target price on Chloride from 160p to 140p and downgraded the stock from “buy” to “hold”, after reducing its 2011 forecasts for the group. The broker said that long-term growth drivers are intact and that service revenues will provide some resilience, but that margin pressure is inevitable.CARPETRIGHTInvestec cuts its forecasts [...]
Online casino revamp for 888 July 12, 2009 Dublin-based internet gambling group 888 Holdings has said it wants to redesign its online casino in 3-D, as it pushes to boost its customer numbers to weather the slowdown in consumer spending. The group is to unveil the revamped user interface, to apply to its online games including roulette and blackjack, this autumn. It is [...]
New women’s mag attracts giants July 12, 2009 Three retail giants, including French Connection founder Stephen Marks, have agreed to back a new free magazine for women set to be handed out at transport hubs in six cities across the UK. The magazine, pencilled in for an autumn launch, is being referred to as Project Y pending a final name and also has [...]
Puma Hotels in debt refinancing July 12, 2009 The Puma Hotels leisure chain, which operates 20 luxury resorts across the UK, is to announce it has had to refinance its £332m of bank debts after suffering losses in the consumer downturn caused by the credit crunch. It is expected to say it negotiated an extended debt facility with Anglo Irish Bank – to [...]
IDENTITY CRISIS AT FUND VETERAN JOHN DUFFIELD’S NEW VENTURE July 9, 2009 JOHN Duffield really hasn’t been too lucky of late, has he? The veteran New Star Asset Management founder established a new venture called Hyde Park Asset Management back in April, as first revealed by yours truly, but soon had to ditch the moniker after hedge fund marketing firm Hyde Park Investment enlisted its legal heavies [...]
First gains of the week as Alcoa boosts the markets July 9, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed 0.5 per cent higher yesterday, ending a three-day losing streak on the back of gains in miners after reassuring earnings from Alcoa. The index closed 18.43 points firmer at 4,158.66, having fallen 1.1 per cent the previous session to its lowest closing level in more than two months. However trading was [...]
Results season off to a positive start July 9, 2009 US stocks edged higher yesterday as investors snapped up battered technology and commodity shares, while a positive broker comment on Goldman Sachs boosted the financial sector. Trading was choppy in light volumes for most of the day as investors remained cautious ahead of more corporate earnings reports in the coming weeks. Alcoa set a positive [...]
Santander in move to raise capital ratio July 9, 2009 Spain’s Santander said yesterday it would swap securities issued by its subsidiaries for new securities from the parent bank to strengthen its balance sheet and improve capital structure efficiency. Santander, the eurozone’s largest bank by market capital, said it would make exchange offers for 30 outstanding US dollar, euro, sterling and yen Tier 1 hybrid [...]
Sky fraud probed by UK site July 9, 2009 SKY CAPITAL Holdings, the brokerage at the centre of a $140m (£87.2m) “boiler room” investigation, threatened to sue a city website that was investigating its operations, a City source told City A.M. yesterday. The news came as it emerged that as many as 400 UK retail investors may have been duped out of their money [...]
