October marks fourth month of expansion for Eurozone firms October 24, 2013 A MAJOR business survey released yesterday indicates that the Eurozone’s firms continued to grow at a modest pace this month, as the final quarter of 2013 begins. According to Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI), the euro area grew for the fourth month running, with a score of 51.5, narrowly above the neutral 50 level, signalling [...]
Santander gains current account customers but UK profits drop October 24, 2013 SANTANDER UK’s profits fell in the third quarter despite the success of a major advertising campaign to recruit new current account customers, the bank said yesterday. So far this year the lender has gained another 900,000 account customers, bringing its total on the brand up to 2.2m. However, pre-tax profits for continuing operations in the [...]
Icahn repeats call for Apple buyback October 24, 2013 BILLIONAIRE investor Carl Icahn fired his latest salvo at Apple chief exec Tim Cook yesterday, urging the iPhone maker again to initiate a $150bn (£92.5bn) buyback. He also revealed that he has increased his stake by about 22 per cent to just over 4.7m shares.
Aberdeen back on the M&A trail with Swip talks October 24, 2013 ABERDEEN Asset Management boss Martin Gilbert returned to the M&A fray yesterday after revealing his intention to takeover Lloyds Banking’s fund management arm. Gilbert, who had previously said he had no interest in buying the firm, revealed he was in talks with Lloyds over its Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (Swip) unit, which was put up [...]
Watchdog forces capital rules on crowdfunding loan websites October 24, 2013 PEOPLE using peer-to-peer (P2P) lending sites will have more protection from being ripped off next year under plans unveiled by the city watchdog yesterday. P2P companies, a form of crowd funding linking savers and borrowers, will be forced to hold a percentage of their loaned funds or £20,000 – whichever amount is higher – as [...]
UK banks under threat from onslaught of conduct red tape October 24, 2013 BRITAIN’S banks’ credit ratings are at risk because of the tide of conduct regulation, fines and costs coming from the new watchdog, Standard and Poor’s analysts said yesterday. The industry as a whole has a negative rating against it in part because of the threat of fines and compensation which is most well known from the [...]
Walkie Scorchie’s rays shaded October 24, 2013 AFTER blinding rays of light from the Walkie Talkie were held responsible for melting parts of a Jaguar and City A.M. journalist Jim Waterson managed to fry an egg in the glare created by the building (pictured) developers are trying out a new sun shade. The building is currently sporting a partial covering, aimed at [...]
Riverstone float raises £760m in muted debut October 24, 2013 RIVERSTONE Energy, the new investment vehicle where former BP boss Lord Browne is a partner, raised £760.3m from its London listing – at the lower end of its expected price range. The company had hoped to raise between £670m and £1.5bn from the public offering, but ended up adding just £210m to the £500m it [...]
Inside Track: US banks tighten grip on Euro investment banking October 24, 2013 A cursory look at the latest investment banking league table leads one to an inevitable conclusion; that investment banking in Europe is becoming more and more the preserve of the American bulge bracket banks. There’s an exception to this trend, of course. Deutsche Bank, with a 10.5 per cent market share of all equity linked [...]
US manufacturers report that output fell during US shutdown October 24, 2013 OUTPUT in the US manufacturing sector fell for the first time in over four years during this month, according to a survey released yesterday by data firm Markit. The overall figure for the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 51.1, indicating very marginal growth, the lowest level in a year. The output part of [...]
