British Land reassures the City as Cheesegrater loses third bolt January 14, 2015 A THIRD bolt has fallen off the Cheesegrater, or Leadenhall Building as it is officially known, British Land confirmed yesterday. Two large steel bolts fractured and fell off the City’s tallest skyscraper in November, while the third incident occurred recently, with the fractured bolt captured by precautionary tethering put in place after the initial breakages. [...]
Citi stumbles in Asia after share sale collapses January 14, 2015 CITI was tripped up in Asia this week after it was forced to cancel a $1.25bn share sale for a division of Hyundai Motors, underscoring the ongoing volatility of sentiment in the equity market. Just days after Goldman Sachs and UBS clinched a $7.5bn (£6bn) accelerated bookbuilding for Santander, Citi failed to complete on the [...]
Cineworld finance boss Philip Bowcock on the relevance of cinema in the digital age January 14, 2015 The art of cinema and the movie business are now at a crossroads,” Martin Scorsese, the veteran filmmaker, wrote in an open letter published in the Italian magazine L’Espresso last year. “In the future, you’ll probably see less and less of what we recognise as cinema on multiplex screens and more and more of it [...]
Burberry sales slowed by Hong Kong protests January 14, 2015 BURBERRY said sales in Asia slowed in the third quarter of its year to “low single-digit growth” after the Hong Kong protests deterred shoppers from visiting its stores. Chief financial officer Carol Fairweather said footfall across its Hong Kong stores was “significantly down” because of the protests, which made some of the city’s core shopping [...]
Shop Direct delivers Very merry Christmas as online orders boom January 14, 2015 LITTLEWOODS owner Shop Direct yesterday said sales surged over the Christmas period as Black Friday became its busiest shopping day. The online and catalogue retailer, owned by billionaire brothers Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, said sales across its biggest website Very.co.uk were up 134 per cent year-on-year on the US-style shopping day. Chief executive [...]
Supergroup shares surge after cold winter snap boosts demand January 14, 2015 SUPERGROUP’S shares surged yesterday as the owner of the Superdry fashion label said sales had rebounded over Christmas, helped by the onset of the cold winter weather. In a trading statement released ahead of plan, the retailer said like-for-like sales jumped 12.4 per cent in the 11 weeks to 10 January as customers snapped up [...]
Wells Fargo hopes for more UK expansion January 14, 2015 GIANT US retail bank Wells Fargo saw profits edge up in the final quarter, led by steady loan and deposit growth. The bank has expanded into areas such as asset-based lending in the UK, and has plans to expand the business further, on the basis that mid-sized firms have traditionally been under-served by large international [...]
Investment banking bonuses up this year but traders see pay slip January 14, 2015 Senior dealmakers at investment banks expect to see their bonuses rise by as much as £40,000 this awards season, according to data out today from Emolument.com. But equities bankers will see payouts stay flat, and fixed income, currencies and commodities traders will see pay dip. Junior origination and advisory staff expect average bonuses of £45,000 [...]
Barclays picks Jonathan Moulds to ring fence the bank January 14, 2015 Barclays hired former Bank of America Merrill Lynch executive Jonathan Moulds yesterday to split the bank up to fit incoming ring fence law. Implementing the rules which split the investment banking arm from the retail banking and payments systems represents a major challenge for the new chief operating officer. Domestic rivals such as Lloyds [...]
Swiss telecoms company to be listed by CVC January 14, 2015 FORMULA One owner CVC Capital Partners yesterday unveiled plans to list Swiss phone company Sunrise in Zurich, setting up Switzerland’s biggest float in nearly a decade. CVC plans to raise 1.35bn Swiss francs (£864m) by selling shares in the company to slash the telecom giant’s debt pile. The buyout giant, headquartered in London, bought Sunrise [...]
