Partnership shares hit as insurer mulls possible debt transaction January 7, 2015 SHARES in insurance firm Partnership Assurance Group went down by 2.21 per cent yesterday, after the firm announced it was exploring the possibility of arranging a debt transaction. The group has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Royal Bank of Scotland to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings, beginning today, to assess [...]
Housing market lifts Persimmon deals by 17pc January 7, 2015 PERSIMMON posted a 17 per cent surge in housing completions last year and said it expected demand for new homes to remain robust despite uncertainty over the outcome of the upcoming general election. Britain’s biggest housebuilder completed 13,509 property sales in the year to 31 December compared with 11,528 the previous year. Homes were sold [...]
Topps Tiles aims to have a third of the UK tile market covered January 7, 2015 Topps Tiles has cemented its place as one of the UK’s favourite homeware stores, with a six per cent increase in like-for-like revenues and sales. The success of the store builds on last year’s growth, albeit at a slower pace than the 9.3 per cent in the same period. Chief executive Matthew Williams said he [...]
Repossessions plunge across the country January 7, 2015 HOME repossessions have dropped by 14 per cent in England and Wales, new figures show. However, there’s a north-south divide, according to numbers released today by chartered surveyors E.surv. There were 2.05 repossessions per 1,000 households in the first six months of 2014, down from 2.39 per 1,000 households in the first six months of [...]
Quindell share price soars 29.6pc as hedge fund Toscafund ups stake January 7, 2015 Insurance outsourcer Quindell saw it share price surge 29.6 per cent in trading yesterday after London-based hedge fund Toscafund increased its shareholding in the company. The Martin Hughes-founded Toscafund splashed out on a further 1.9m Quindell shares, bringing its stake in the Hampshire-based company to more than five per cent. It was the second bit [...]
World Bank urges states to fix finances as oil prices stay low January 7, 2015 The World Bank has warned developing countries to build up crisis buffers while oil prices are low. The organisation said the developing nations were “faced with weaker export prospects, an impending rise in global interest rates and fragile financial market sentiment”. The use of fiscal stimulus as a response to the financial crisis means many [...]
Passenger numbers rise at EasyJet and Aer Lingus January 7, 2015 Irish airline Aer Lingus and budget carrier EasyJet both saw passenger numbers rise by 3.2 per cent last year, in what was a generally good year for the firms. Aer Lingus saw the number of people using its services increase to 11.1m in 2014. Its load factor, the number of seats filled on each flight, [...]
M&G Investments injects £60m into UK solar power company Primrose January 7, 2015 Five solar farms across the UK have gained new funding, with M&G Investments agreeing to provide £60m to Primrose Solar. The inflation-linked financing, arranged by Novatio Capital, is repayable over 18.5 years and is provided by clients of Prudential-owned M&G seeking long-term secure cash flows. Tim Huband, the head of project and infrastructure finance at [...]
Macquarie Capital buys into Baltic Sea offshore wind farm January 7, 2015 Macquarie Capital yesterday bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the Baltic 2 offshore wind farm in Germany for approximately €720m (£477m), the firm announced. The investment, advisory and capital markets arm of Australian financial services conglomerate Macquarie Group has partnered with Energie Baden-Wurttemberg (EnBW) – one of Europe’s largest energy supply companies – to [...]
Monster sues Apple’s Beats Electronics, claims Jimmy Iovine and Dr Dre “fraudulently acquired” brand through “sham transaction” January 7, 2015 Headphones maker Monster and its chief executive yesterday launched legal action against Apple’s Beats Electronics for allegedly conspiring to dupe Monster out of a deal with Beats before it was sold last year to the iPhone maker for $3.2bn (£2.12bn). In a complaint filed in Superior Court in San Mateo County, California, Monster alleged that [...]
