Dealmaking in Europe stutters to 10-year low December 19, 2013 M&A PLUNGED to its lowest level in a decade across Europe this year amid a slowdown in global dealmaking, fresh figures out today reveal. The total value of European M&A deals was $529.4bn (£323bn) this year, a 23 per cent fall from last year and the slowest year since 2003. The preliminary figures, published by [...]
Accenture shrugs off tough time in consulting with other growth December 19, 2013 ACCENTURE’S first-quarter results beat analysts’ estimates yesterday as increased demand for outsourcing services helped to offset a drop in income from its consulting business. The company’s consulting business has been hit in the past few quarters as companies cut down on discretionary spending, resulting in fewer large deals. Revenue from consulting, the bigger of Accenture’s [...]
Aviva pledges £500m towards infrastructure projects in the UK December 19, 2013 AVIVA has committed £500m to invest in UK infrastructure projects in sectors including transport, hospitals and utilities. The insurance group said yesterday that its commitment follows a deal on new European capital requirements for insurers – known as Solvency II – which had proved less burdensome than initially feared, freeing up more money to invest. [...]
Mortgage loans to reach £170bn mark for 2013 December 19, 2013 MORTGAGE lending dipped slightly during November, down £600m from the previous month, despite a surge over the past year. According to the latest estimate from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), gross mortgage lending dipped to £17bn last month, but stayed 30 per cent higher than the figure in November 2012, demonstrating how much more [...]
Christmas spending set to be modestly higher than last year December 19, 2013 CHRISTMAS spending this year is forecast to rise to nearly £50bn, increasing by just more than inflation from last year’s level. Barclays reveal today that they believe spending will rise to £47bn over Christmas, an increase of 2.8 per cent on last year. Previous research from the bank has suggested that online sales will dominate [...]
ECB: Markets right to fear periphery debt December 19, 2013 INVESTORS were right to charge periphery governments a higher rate of interest on their debts, European Central Bank (ECB) analysts said yesterday, countering previous claims from ECB officials and EU politicians. Before the financial crash borrowing costs across Eurozone governments converged at low levels. But following the crash and particularly in 2011, interest rates spiked [...]
City watchdog hands £1.8m fine to JLT arm December 19, 2013 INSURANCE broker JLT Speciality Ltd has been fined £1.8m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) over bribery and corruption failings at the company between February 2009 and May 2012. The broker, an arm of insurance giant Jardine Lloyd Thompson, accepted the FCA’s analysis that it had put “unacceptable” bribery controls in place on overseas markets [...]
Swedish private equity victory December 19, 2013 SWEDISH private equity firm EQT secured a major victory yesterday as a court struck down an earlier tax verdict that would have meant billions of crowns in higher taxes. The legal battle was the first in a string of similar cases and likely to set a decisive precedent between Sweden’s tax agency and private equity [...]
Ofcom rules for BT Openreach to improve service December 19, 2013 OFCOM has proposed a set of stricter rules for BT’s Openreach division that will require 80 per cent of fault repairs to be made within two working days, regardless of factors such as severe weather conditions. Sky and TalkTalk – who offer phone and internet services to their customers over BT’s network infrastructure – have [...]
Co-op beefs up governance by hiring new secretary from Lloyds December 19, 2013 THE EMBATTLED Co-operative Group yesterday hired Claire Davies as its new group secretary, replacing Moira Lees, who retired last month. Solicitor Davies has held a range of relatively high profile roles at Lloyds, Legal and General, Ernst and Young and the Woolwich over 27 years and will be involved with the ongoing governance shakeup. The [...]
