High share price gives Lloyds chief executive a £2.3m bonus November 20, 2013 LLOYDS’ chief executive yesterday qualified for his 2012 bonus after the bank’s shares held steady at above the government’s bailout price for 30 consecutive trading days. Antonio Horta Osorio, pictured, now qualifies for more than 3m shares, worth £2.3m at yesterday’s prices. However he still has to wait five years to collect the bonus, as [...]
Sky keen for a wholesale deal with BT Sport November 20, 2013 BSKYB chief executive Jeremy Darroch said yesterday that he is keen to sign a mutual wholesale deal with BT, so both broadcasters can offer their customers access to a full range of live sports. At a Morgan Stanley media conference in Barcelona, Darroch said “We’re keen to get a wholesale agreement, but it has to [...]
EY to snap up rival KPMG’s Danish arm… November 20, 2013 THE DANISH arm of KPMG announced yesterday that it is to be merged into EY’s global operations, a major victory for the firm formerly known as Ernst & Young over its big four rival. Jesper Koefoed, head of KPMG’s branch in Denmark said that the organisation’s strong local market position would be beneficial in combination [...]
…as it expands eastwards into Canary Wharf to fit in new staff November 20, 2013 ACCOUNTANCY group EY is taking 200,000 square feet of office space in Canary Wharf, becoming the latest City firm to move staff to the Docklands. EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, confirmed yesterday that it will keep its offices at More London near Tower Bridge, where it has been based for almost a decade. [...]
Npower sells customers to smaller rival November 20, 2013 NPOWER yesterday claimed to have created a new household energy supplier that will compete with the big six, after selling 770,000 customer accounts to Telecom Plus. In a £218m deal, Telecom Plus will almost double its customer base and immediately boost its energy margins by 4.25 per cent. The FTSE 250-listed firm, which trades as [...]
First five star score for RBS and Natwest November 20, 2013 A SURVEY of financial wellbeing released today has given the first five star rating to a bank’s product since it began in 2010. Research by the Fairbanking Foundation, which looks at savings accounts, currents accounts, credit cards and personal loans, gave RBS and NatWest’s instant saver with savings goals a five star rating, the first awarded for [...]
Fastest lift in mortgage lending for five years November 20, 2013 MORTGAGE lending soared to £17.6bn last month as the UK’s housing market continued to heat up, marking the steepest annual jump since 2008. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) revealed yesterday that gross lending was up nine per cent from September, and an eye-watering 37 per cent higher than in October 2012. The last time it recorded [...]
Inside Track: Crystal Methodist could jeopardise Co-op Bank’s rescue November 20, 2013 SAYING it with Flowers has just assumed an entirely new meaning. The debacle at the Co-op – fuelled by revelations about former bank chairman Paul Flowers’ extra-curricular behaviour – raises profound questions for regulators, government and bank boards alike. Lord Myners, the former Labour city minister, was right to raise the possibility that this week’s [...]
Barclays cuts Christmas hours for IT and account contractors November 20, 2013 HUNDREDS of contract workers at Barclays are to lose 10 days’ work before the end of the year, City A.M. understands, in a move which surprised staff. The contractors in Barclays Finance were told this week that they would have to take off 10 unpaid days by the end of the year. “The bank has [...]
Zurich shakes up Asia work November 20, 2013 ZURICH Insurance has sold its remaining stake in New China Life Insurance for $943m (£584.7m), as it pushes ahead with an attempt to diversify its Asian portfolio. The Swiss insurer said yesterday it had offered its 292.5m shares in NCI, representing a 9.4 per cent stake, at a fixed price of HK$25.00 each. The price [...]
