CITY VIEWS: WHEN DO YOU THINK INTEREST RATES WILL GO BACK UP? September 9, 2010 ERIC TARTERET | SOCIETE GENERALE “Interest rates in the UK will go up within the next six to eight months, but they won’t rise by much, maybe a quarter of a point. The UK services sector, including financial services, is strong, while the export industry is reporting good figures.” SARAH WEBSTER | NORTON ROSE “Interest [...]
Finance minister says German new debt may be below €60bn September 9, 2010 German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble yesterday said Germany’s net new borrowing could be less than €60bn (£49.3bn) this year, putting it well below a previous target of around €65bn. Berlin has barely begun issuing new debt this year. It has said it plans to issue €338bn in total debt in 2010, including for refinancing. So [...]
NAB’s A$13bn bid for Axa is blocked again September 9, 2010 National Australia Bank’s A$13.3bn (£8bn) bid for AXA Asia Pacific has been blocked for a second time, dashing its efforts to cement its lead in the world’s fourth-largest wealth management market. The Australian competition regulator’s decision clears the way for Australia’s second-biggest fund manager AMP to take another tilt at AXA Asia Pacific, after its [...]
Sanofi sticks with $69 per share offer for rival drug firm Genzyme September 9, 2010 French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis yesterday poured cold water on reports it had raised its offer for Genzyme, saying it was sticking to its bid of $18.5bn (£11.9bn), or $69 per share. “There is one offer, at $69 a share,” said spokesman Jean-Marc Podvin. “No other offer has been made to or discussed with the Genzyme board, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 9, 2010 Clifford Chance The law firm said yesterday that Michael Dakin, the chief legal officer at Dubai-based investment firm Future Group, is to rejoin its ranks on the European high-yield team. Dakin left Clifford Chance to join Future in August last year, having been a partner at the law firm for four years. Prior to that, [...]
IG eyes turbulence after revenues rise September 9, 2010 SPREADBETTING and derivatives specialist IG Group is eyeing an uptick in trading activity as the prospect of further government debt woe in the Eurozone looms. Chief executive Tim Howkins said he was “quite gloomy” about the outlook for global equity markets given the need to gradually withdraw fiscal props in the wake of 2008’s financial [...]
US slips in WEF’s competitiveness rankings for 2010 September 9, 2010 SWITZERLAND remains the world’s most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF’s) annual rankings. Sweden, in second spot, and Singapore in third leapfrogged the United States in the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report 2010/2011. Last year the [...]
Lion Capital set to sell Dutch retailer Hema September 9, 2010 PRIVATE equity group Lion Capital said yesterday it had appointed Citigroup and RBS to explore selling retailer Hema, the second Dutch retailer to be placed up for sale this year. Lion Capital bought Hema, a household name in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed sum in July 2007 from Dutch retail group Maxeda, and has since [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE YOU CHANGING YOUR ESTIMATES AFTER IG GROUP’S FIRST QUARTER RESULTS? September 9, 2010 JAMES HAMILTON | NUMIS SECURITIES In aggregate, the first quarter was a little better than we would have expected but at this point of the year we are not loking to change our forecasts and continue to look for 12.8 per cent revenue growth for the full year. IG is valued at 14.8 times this [...]
Accountants take up top FTSE 100 jobs September 9, 2010 ACCOUNTANTS now hold senior roles at six out of 10 FTSE 100 companies in the UK, according to new research. A survey conducted by recruiter Marks Sattin found that 40 per cent of senior figures at the UK’s largest companies have an accounting or financial background. The number has more than doubled from the 1990s [...]
