Quangos to go under Tory rule July 6, 2009 TORY leader David Cameron said yesterday that he could abolish some quasi-autonomous non-government organisations (quangos) and curb the powers and budgets of others, should his party come to power. In a speech to the think-tank Reform about reforming quangos – such as communications regulator Ofcom – Cameron said he had ordered the shadow cabinet to [...]
New property group to float July 6, 2009 Paul Pedley, the former chief executive of Redrow, yesterday announced plans to raise £50m to buy new-build flats in London from distressed developers. The new investment company, London Residential Opportunities, aims to be listed on the London Stock Exchange in September. Steven Norris, the former Tory transport minister, will sit on the board of Callidus [...]
SocGen profit grows despite hit from CDS July 6, 2009 SOCIETE Generale expects to post a small second-quarter net profit, helped by its corporate and investment banking division, the French bank said in a statement yesterday. Net banking income would be hit by a negative impact of €1.3bn resulting from credit default swaps used to hedge its loan portfolio and debt instruments used by the [...]
Marston’s brushes off investor rebellion as 176m rights issue gets green light July 6, 2009 PUB group Marston’s yesterday got the green light from shareholders for its proposed £176m rights issue, which was dubbed by some leading shareholders as “totally ridiculous.” Yesterday at an extraordinary meeting almost 10 per cent of shareholders voted against the plans, arguing that the level of share raising and expansion plans would provide no real [...]
ONE WOOD STREET CHANGES HANDS July 6, 2009 LAND Securities yesterday said it has sold the leasehold interest in City office building One Wood Street for £105.5m. The property was bought by fund manager Aerium on behalf of the Glenn Arrow UK Property Fund. The building generates an annual rent of £8.4m.
Friends Prov offloads final F&C shares July 6, 2009 INSURER Friends Provident has finished demerging its 52 per cent stake in asset manager F&C, after it sold its final 11.7 per cent chunk into the market on behalf of a group of smaller shareholders yesterday. While bigger Friends Provident shareholders were recently handed shares of F&C as part of the demerger, to do with [...]
Unite Group lifted by UK student fund July 6, 2009 UNITE Group, Britain’s biggest developer of student housing, said the net asset value of its flagship fund rose 4.1 per cent in the second quarter, bucking turbulent conditions in the broader property market. The estimated net asset value (NAV) of the Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund at 30 June rose to 71.2p per unit versus [...]
St Modwen sinks into the red as losses hit 93.8m July 6, 2009 PROPERTY developer St Modwen yesterday sank into the red as it reported losses had quadrupled to £93.8m for the six months to the end of May. The group, which owns the Elephant & Castle shopping centre, warned that it had seen no pick up in rental values in the commercial sector, but the residential market [...]
Caledonia says assets rise as it gets investing July 6, 2009 INVESTMENT trust Caledonia Investments yesterday said its net assets rose to £994m in the three months to end-June, from £906m at the end of March. The group made investments of £23.2m in the quarter, including £9.5m in a rights issue by Indian-listed textiles firm Alok. It realised assets worth £2.2m over the period. The net [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 6, 2009 VICTREXKBC Peel Hunt has initiated coverage on Victrex, the high performance plastic manufacturers, with a “buy” recommendation and a target price of 650p, predicting strong profits growth for 2010. It says the current consensus is 8 per cent too low, and that should Victrex begin restocking then forecasts could be revised up again. AEGIS GROUPPanmure [...]
