FTSE 100 lower as Barclays steals headlines August 30, 2012 The leading share index opened modestly down this morning, but the real focus was on Barclays, as it appointed head of the retail bank Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive. Miner Ferrexpo led the fallers, losing 10.2 per cent in early trading, as the company went ex-dividend yesterday. Recruitment firm Hays fell 8.48 per [...]
Citigroup settles lawsuit for £372m August 30, 2012 Citigroup agreed to pay $590m (£372m) to settle a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of hiding tens of billions of dollars of toxic mortgage assets, one of the largest settlements stemming from the global financial crisis. The agreement resolves claims that shareholders ended up with massive losses after the bank failed to take timely write-downs on [...]
Barclays appoints Antony Jenkins as chief executive August 30, 2012 Barclays today named retail boss Antony Jenkins as its new chief executive, handing an insider the task of helping to repair the damage caused by a rate-rigging scandal. Softly spoken Jenkins, brought in six years ago to turn around the bank’s credit card business, replaces Bob Diamond, who built up Barclays’ thriving investment bank but [...]
WPP revises down full-year outlook August 30, 2012 WPP nudged down its full-year outlook today after cautious customers demanded better value for money from the world’s largest advertising group in the second quarter of the year. The slight change in tone from WPP’s large client base meant the group posted revenues up 3.6 per cent on the all-important metric of a like-for-like basis, [...]
JJB Sports puts itself up for sale August 30, 2012 Struggling British sports goods retailer JJB Sports Plc put itself up for sale this morning, issuing a dismal statement that warned investors that their shares may be worthless. Directors of the Wigan-based company, which throughout 2012 has been rocked by funding issues, falling sales and stiff competition, said they did not believe that the company [...]
EU widens Ryanair probe for Aer Lingus August 29, 2012 Europe’s competition regulator has launched an in-depth review of Ryanair’s latest bid for Irish rival Aer Lingus, signalling the budget airline may have to make big concessions to ease competition concerns or face fresh failure. Ryanair, which already owns 30 per cent of Aer Lingus, had an initial bid turned down by the European Commission [...]
Latvian police say body found in woods likely to be that of City A.M. shareholder August 29, 2012 LATVIAN police yesterday said that DNA tests carried out on a dead body discovered earlier this month confirm it is likely to be that of Leonid Rozhetskin, a shareholder and board member of City A.M., who has been missing since March 2008. A police spokesperson said the DNA profile of the corpse found in a [...]
FTSE 100 lower on worries over global economy August 29, 2012 The UK’s blue chip index opened lower this morning, with concerns over the health of the global economy and falling metal prices dragging shares down. Russian oil and gas company Ruspetro led the fallers, shedding 8.41 per cent in early trading as investors reacted negatively to news that it swung to a loss in the [...]
Grafton says UK market a little more settled August 29, 2012 Irish building and home improvement supplies group Grafton said prospects in its main British market were a little better than a year ago, as it posted a 19 per cent rise in first-half operating profit. Grafton, which said last month its revenue for the first half had risen by four per cent to €1.05bn (£834m), [...]
Spanish recession darkens as Catalonia asks for bailout August 29, 2012 The Spanish economy is falling deeper into recession and depositors are pulling their money out of the banks, figures published yesterday showed, while the country’s most economically important region, Catalonia, said it needed a major rescue from Madrid. Spain’s recession grew stronger in the second quarter of the year and is expected to get worse [...]
