One Savings Bank plans to double revenues April 20, 2012 One Savings Bank, a new British lender backed by US private equity firm JC Flowers, aims to double its assets to £4.5bn and could make acquisitions to boost lending to small businesses. The company was created in February 2011 after JC Flowers injected fresh capital into the mutually owned Kent Reliance Building Society, a casualty [...]
William Hill in boost from mobile apps April 20, 2012 Britain’s biggest bookmaker William Hill said first-quarter profit rose 19 per cent as marketing drives and a new mobile application helped attract customers. William Hill said online revenues grew 33 per cent in the quarter with sports betting exceeding 50 million pounds of turnover in a single week for the first time. The firm, which [...]
SuperGroup warns on profit April 20, 2012 SuperGroup, the British company behind the Superdry fashion brand, warned on year profit again, this time blaming “arithmetic errors” and timing issues in its wholesale business as well as lower margins in its retail business. The firm, whose clothes are a favourite of celebrities such as David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio and Zac Efron, said on [...]
As France goes to the polls its love for London grows April 20, 2012 WALKING around South Kensington, you may have a feeling of being lost in Paris’s Latin Quarter. There are French cafés, bistros, book stores; you may even come across the Lycée Français, the established hub of the French community. The French are in London en masse and have made some parts of the capital their own [...]
Sugar tells Ken: You’re fired April 19, 2012 APPRENTICE star Lord Alan Sugar yesterday waded into the Mayoral elections and told Londoners: don’t vote for Ken Livingstone. The businessman and Labour peer defied his party leader to tell his 1.8m followers on Twitter: “I don’t care if Ed Miliband is backing Livingstone. I seriously suggest NO ONE votes for Livingstone in the Mayoral [...]
Barclays in olive branch to investors April 19, 2012 BARCLAYS made a peace offering to its angry UK shareholders yesterday by inserting a new condition into the bonuses awarded to its top executives and saying it would prioritise raising its dividend. Chief executive Bob Diamond and chief financial officer Chris Lucas will now see only half of their 2011 bonuses if they do not [...]
American pharma firm rejects £1.6bn Glaxo bid April 19, 2012 BRITISH pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been knocked back by Human Genome Sciences, after tabling a $13 per share cash bid for the US-based biotechnology firm. The offer was worth around $2.6bn (£1.62bn) yet dismissed as “unsolicited” and inadequate by the target company’s board. “The offer does not reflect the value inherent in HGS,” it [...]
ADVISERS April 19, 2012 GlaxoSmithKline was advised by Lazard and Morgan Stanley on its failed bid for Human Genome Sciences. Morgan Stanley also advised on the successful sale of drug management company PPD to the Carlyle Group at the end of 2011. Legal counsel on the GSK bid was provided by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and Watchtell, [...]
Scientific progress and emerging markets give us all hope April 19, 2012 I AM as guilty as anybody of excessive gloominess. To be fair, I have an excuse: the government is floundering; Abu Qatada is making a mockery of Britain; the UK economy is stagnant; unemployment is elevated; taxes are rising; the nanny state is gaining ground; the Eurozone faces years of misery and eventual collapse; China [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 19, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Qatari wealth fund adds Tiffany stake Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has made its first big investment in a US public company by acquiring a 5.2 per cent stake in Tiffany, the jewellery retailer known for its diamond rings and blue, ribboned boxes. Cameron faces mutiny over Lords David Cameron is facing the biggest [...]
