Co-op Group clings onto vital stake in its bank May 11, 2014 HEDGE funds backing the Co-operative Bank have helped plug the latest £400m capital hole at the troubled lender, increasing their own stake in the bank. The Co-op Group’s stake in the bank has been cut from 30 per cent to 20.2 per cent. As a result, the group does not have to pay even more [...]
Surge in City hiring as financial firms back the economic recovery May 11, 2014 THE BOOMING British economy has prompted banks and other finance firms to step up hiring, according to figures out today from recruiters Morgan McKinley. It has seen a 67 per cent rise in the number of jobs on its books in the last year, to 8,955 in April. The surge contrasts with a subdued performance [...]
Bank auditors’ culture fears May 11, 2014 A SIGNIFICANT number of banks’ internal auditors fear they will not be able to properly assess their firms’ culture, studying risks and controls and how the bank behaves. Though it is part of the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors’ new code, 34 per cent of internal audit bosses said assessing culture is the most challenging [...]
Virgin Money to hire advisers for 2015 stock market flotation May 11, 2014 CHALLENGER bank Virgin Money is planning to hire Goldman Sachs and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in the coming weeks to advise on its stock market flotation. The pair are expected to help organise the initial public offering (IPO) and to run the book on the flotation. Virgin Money is expected to go to market [...]
Barclays resigned to shrink investment arm May 11, 2014 BARCLAYS has to focus on a smaller, more profitable investment bank, rather than aiming to be a giant player, boss Antony Jenkins admitted yesterday. “Investment banking has changed significantly – size itself is not really the objective,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr.
Britons step up spending over Easter holidays May 11, 2014 BRITONS loosened their purse-strings and increased their spending in April thanks to the warmer weather and a late Easter, with discounters reaping most of the rewards, according to new data released yesterday. Figures from Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of the UK’s debit and credit transactions, showed spending rose 3.7 per cent last month compared [...]
Philip Green plans stock market return after buying Mysale stake May 11, 2014 RETAIL tycoon Sir Philip Green has bought a 25 per cent stake in an Australian shopping website that is plotting a float on the London Stock Exchange within months. Mysale is Australia and Asia’s largest provider of online flash sales, where shoppers can buy clothing and homeware brands at a discount for a short period [...]
Bottom Line: Discount retailers keep surging whatever the economic weather May 11, 2014 IT’S NOT exactly a dramatic rebirth but there are some stirrings of spring in these figures. Unsurprisingly, particularly at a time of year when the national imagination turns to home improvement, UK consumers invested even more this April in their fastest-appreciating assets than they did 12 months before, with DIY spending up 11.9 per cent [...]
Harvester owner plots Orchids deal May 11, 2014 MIDLANDS brewery Mitchells & Butlers is leading a pack of buyers hoping to acquire UK pub firm Orchid Group. M&B, which owns the Harvester pub chain, is looking at acquiring the group’s food business, while other bidders are hoping to buy the whole group from seller Deutsche Bank. First round bidding is due to close [...]
UK feels under worked despite surge in hiring May 11, 2014 THE PLUNGE in unemployment numbers is set to keep on going after research released today showed firms have the strongest intentions to hire than at any time in the last six and a half years. A report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows that 26 per cent more companies expect to [...]
