ADVISERS BARCLAYS March 29, 2012 CO-HEAD M&A MATTHEW Ponsonby, co-head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East and Africa is one of the key players on the team advising International Power (IP). The bank hired Ponsonby in 2009 to set up an M&A team in Europe, and he has since led a team advising car rental company Avis [...]
Rail firms line up to take on UK franchises March 29, 2012 THIRTEEN companies are vying to take on more rail routes in the UK, the Department for Transport revealed yesterday. Rail minister Theresa Villiers welcomed the “strong interest” in the three franchises up for grabs – the Great Western line between Penzance and Paddington, the Essex Thameside route and London’s Thameslink services. This is part of [...]
Maybe the co-operative model isn’t so good after all March 29, 2012 PSST. Don’t tell Nick Clegg, but “co-operative” is not a byword for success. Earlier this year, the deputy prime minister said he wanted Britain to become a “John Lewis economy”, in reference to the firm’s employee-owned structure. Yet there are just two major co-ops in the UK. John Lewis, the patron saint of retailers, is [...]
FirstGroup bus margins to fall March 29, 2012 FIRSTGROUP’S shares plunged 14 per cent yesterday as the transport operator warned it would cut margins by over a third in its UK bus division next year. In a pre-close trading update, the Aberdeen-based group said increased fuel costs, the growing north-south divide and the impact of reduced government subsidies and funding to the industry [...]
End of relief on stamp duty hits UK house prices March 29, 2012 HOUSE prices fell sharply in March, data from Nationwide showed yesterday, as the stamp duty holiday for first-time buyers came to an end. Lending figures from the Bank of England also showed mortgage approvals plunged in February, suggesting the market has slowed further. Prices fell one per cent in March, the first decline in six [...]
Rise in the money supply gives hope UK is heading for recovery March 29, 2012 HEALTHY money supply figures published yesterday could point to a modest economic recovery, as households’ and non-financial companies’ holdings increased in February. The non-financial M4 measure of money supply rose 2.3 per cent in the six months to February, Bank of England data showed. Holdings by financial corporations fell, but have little bearing on the [...]
Worried shoppers hit Eurozone economies March 29, 2012 FALLING retail sales and weak consumer confidence figures out yesterday show the Eurozone heading for stagnation or further decline, economists warned. Euro area sales revenues fell for the fifth consecutive month in March, according to Markit’s retail purchasing managers’ index (PMI), although with a score of 49.1 the fall was much slower than in January, [...]
SPAIN STRIKES AHEAD OF FRESH AUSTERITY CUTS March 29, 2012 ANTI-AUSTERITY demonstrators slowed public transport to a crawl and disrupted factories across Spain yesterday, in a general strike over Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s sweeping reforms, a day before a new round of budget cuts. Police arrested 58 people, many of whom were trying to stop workers crossing picket lines to get to their jobs.
Fisher urges capital preparation March 29, 2012 Banks should continue to build up the amount of collateral they have pre-approved for use in the Bank of England’s emergency liquidity scheme, top official Paul Fisher said yesterday. He said the Bank’s discount window facility now has about £265bn of collateral pre-approved, enabling the central bank to inject around £160bn of liquidity. “Although not [...]
US benefit claims at four year low March 29, 2012 New US claims for unemployment benefits fell to a fresh four-year low last week, according to a government report published yesterday that showed ongoing improvement in the labour market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 359,000, the lowest level since April 2008. The prior week’s figure was revised up [...]
