Qatar set to become world’s largest real estate investor June 13, 2010 QATAR will overtake sluggish European funds to become the largest real estate investor in the world this year, according to a report by property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle out yesterday. The country has emerged as a global powerhouse in property, and will become the top source of overseas capital in 2010, says the report. “Cash-rich [...]
Managers could man the phones at BT June 13, 2010 BT plans to use hundreds of middle managers to fill frontline positions in call centres and engineering roles in the event of a strike, sources say. The telecoms group is putting together contingency plans for the first strike at the firm since 1987, after talks with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) broke down last week. The [...]
Ministers ask for rail saving plan June 13, 2010 Rail bosses could have the upper hand in deciding their own spending fate as ministers have asked the UK’s major train companies to propose cost cutting ideas when it comes to running the UK’s railways. It is understood that the idea, which could see the train companies keep half their savings, is to provide incentive [...]
The threat of regulatory recession June 13, 2010 RISING regulation and economic austerity could produce a toxic mix in 2011. That was the view of many of the bankers that I spoke to last week at the International Institute of Finance spring meeting in Vienna. Crucially, though, they were more concerned about the prospect of a regulatory recession than one induced by governments [...]
Origo raises another $30m June 13, 2010 Origo Partners, the private equity investment and consulting practice focused on economic growth opportunities in China and India, has raised $30m before commissions and expenses through a share placing. The firm placed 82.2m new shares with investors for 25p per share. The stock is expected to be admitted for trading on the London Stock Exchange’s [...]
Inflation forecast to stay stubbornly high June 13, 2010 INFLATION data out this week is likely to cause a further headache for the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) after data on Friday showed the public’s expectations of long-term inflation had shot up sharply. The MPC has long argued it would look through what it sees as a temporary spike in inflation. But, [...]
SHOULD THE MPC BE WORRIED ABOUT THE RISE IN INFLATION EXPECTATIONS? June 13, 2010 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP “Signs that high CPI and RPI figures are lifting inflation expectations are bound to worry the MPC. The MPC takes the inflation target seriously and it cannot stand by if it loses credibility. So far, longer-term inflation expectations remain fairly stable, combined with early fiscal tightening will keep the MPC on [...]
Supermarket showdown as rivals report June 13, 2010 SUPERMARKET giants Tesco and J Sainsbury are this week expected to report fairly flat sales growth for the first quarter of the year, signalling a slowing of consumer activity across the food sector. Tesco is expected to report sales growth of between zero and 1.5 per cent tomorrow for the first quarter according to analysts, [...]
China takes Club Med stake June 13, 2010 CHINA’S largest non-state holding, Fosun, has acquired 7.1 per cent of holiday resort group Club Med, the first time a quoted Chinese group takes a direct holding in a high-profile listed French company. Club Med hopes to make China its second-biggest market in the next five years while Fosun is keen to invest in Club [...]
GMC sniffs at gold mining targets after Plus listing June 13, 2010 GOLD Mining Company (GMC), a venture set up to invest in the precious metals sector, will today make its debut on the Plus stock market, having raised £820,000m in cash via a placing of 37m new shares. GMC said its listing would provide the company with better opportunities for exposure to the robust gold and [...]
