Business confidence hit by Eurozone health fears June 10, 2010 CONCERNS over the health of the Eurozone have dragged business confidence down from April’s two-year high, according to a snapshot from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets. The proportion of boards expecting an upturn in trading over the coming year fell 11 per cent to just under a third, the bank said in a monthly update. Managers’ [...]
Mandela has sights set on the big stage June 10, 2010 NELSON MANDELA is determined to climb off his sick bed and make a brief appearance at today’s opening World Cup match – at the age of 91. The former South African president wants to sample a taste of the atmosphere at the showpiece event when the hosts take on Mexico at Johannesburg’s 94,000-capacity Soccer City. [...]
Seven Spanish banks to merge June 10, 2010 SPANISH savings bank Caja Madrid and rival Bancaja are in talks which could lead to the creation of the country’s largest savings bank and be the latest move in a sectoral restructuring the government is keen to see. Caja Madrid and Bancaja said they were discussing joining the System for Institutional Protection (SIP) which Caja [...]
Hungary’s debt sale is shunned June 10, 2010 HUNGARY cut its 12-month bill auction offer yesterday and sold the bills at higher yields than two weeks ago as markets were still uncertain and awaiting proof the government’s economic plan could be implemented. The bills were sold at an average yield of 5.35 per cent, compared with a yield of 5.17 per cent two [...]
City investors back inquiry on bank fees June 10, 2010 INVESTORS applauded the fresh inquiry into investment banks’ fees for advising on and underwriting equity issues announced by the Office of Fair Trading yesterday. Following worries over the spiralling cost of rights issues for companies, the OFT said it would investigate the level of competition in capital markets services and whether corporates were getting value [...]
European banks face second quarter chill due to debt woes June 10, 2010 EUROPEAN banks including UBS, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse face a sharp slowdown in the second quarter on the back of regional sovereign debt fears, analysts believe. UBS chief financial officer John Cryan yesterday told an informal lunch meeting that the Swiss institution would post weaker results for the three months to the end of [...]
Hotshot Rooney is our City slicker June 10, 2010 THE CITY are backing Wayne Rooney to be a hit at this World Cup. No fewer than 32 per cent believe the England striker will follow in the footsteps of Gary Lineker in 1986 and claim the Golden Boot in South Africa. But the majority can’t see the Manchester United front man firing England to [...]
DO WE NEED TO LOOK AT THE FEES BANKS CHARGE ON RIGHTS ISSUES? June 10, 2010 NEIL SHAH | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH “It’s part of a much wider political play on targeting and attacking banks, and this is just one more area. OFT investigations are not undertaken lightly, though, and if you actually look at underwriting fees there’s not much variability. I don’t see an enormously competitive market there, so there [...]
BA chief exec turns down £334k bonus June 10, 2010 WILLIE WALSH, the British Airways (BA) chief executive, was the only senior level member of the airline to turn down a bonus last year, as the airline faced increasing financial losses and industrial action launched by cabin crew. Walsh, who was in line to receive a £334,000 bonus awarded in shares, declined to accept it [...]
Ash and strikes cause BAA passenger traffic to fall 4.5pc June 10, 2010 BRITISH AIRPORT AUTHORITY (BAA), owner of Heathrow and Stansted airports, reported floundering May passenger numbers yesterday as the industrial action launched by British Airways cabin crew and the Iceland volcano disruptions continued to take their toll. The airports body, owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, said yesterday that 8.6m passengers traveled through its six airports, marking a [...]
