Metro Bank may float as it gains more customers October 22, 2013 METRO Bank reported a 75 per cent rise in customer numbers in the first three quarters of the year yesterday. The strong growth figures prompted the bank to write to shareholders to tell them it is considering floating on the stock market to raise more funds. Metro now has 238,000 current accounts across its business and [...]
Bank of Cyprus gives top job for former RBS man Hourican October 22, 2013 THE BANK of Cyprus appointed ex-RBS investment head John Hourican as its chief executive officer yesterday. Irishman Hourican, who was chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland’s investment arm from 2008 until earlier in 2013, will have oversight of extensive restructuring at Bank of Cyprus, caught up in the turmoil of an international bailout on the island [...]
Billion dollar Libor fine set for Rabobank October 22, 2013 RABOBANK could be fined $1bn (£615.8m) over accusations of Libor-rigging as soon as next week, settling with regulators in the UK, US, and its native Netherlands. The charge, first reported in the Financial Times, would be the second biggest fine levied against a financial institution in the wake of the scandal. Swiss giant UBS paid [...]
Customers to get millions after Scottish Power probe October 22, 2013 BIG SIX energy supplier Scottish Power yesterday said it has agreed to pay £8.5m back to customers after regulator Ofgem found its doorstep and telesales agents guilty of mis-selling. Scottish Power would have faced a higher penalty if it had not accepted and rectified its failings, Ofgem said. Around 140,000 customers on Scottish Power’s warm [...]
SAC to shut London office October 22, 2013 SAC Capital Advisors is set to close down its office in London before the end of the year, according to a person familiar with the matter. The group currently still has offices located on Paternoster Row, near St Paul’s Cathedral. The hedge fund was founded by US billionaire Steven A Cohen, and is worth about [...]
M&S to ramp up its Simply Food store openings October 22, 2013 MARKS & Spencer is set to expand its fast-growing food business by opening 150 Simply Food stores in the UK over the next three years. Speaking at an investor day yesterday, M&S’s executive director for food Steve Rowe said half of the new openings will be in high street or out-of-town locations with car parks, [...]
Discounters grab market share from UK’s leading supermarkets October 22, 2013 SAINSBURY’S was the only one of the big four supermarkets to gain market share in the 12 weeks to 13 October as discounters continued to put pressure on Britain’s grocers, Data from Kantar Worldpanel out yesterday showed Aldi’s sales leapt by 31.7 per cent year-on-year, gaining record market share of 3.8 per cent against three [...]
Reckitt puts for sale sign over drugs business October 22, 2013 SHARES in Reckitt Benckiser surged more than five per cent yesterday after the consumer giant effectively put its pharmaceuticals arm up for sale, in a deal that could raise more than £2bn. The FTSE 100 group said yesterday it has launched a strategic review of its RBP unit, which is focused on the drug Suboxone, [...]
Bottom Line: Giving up the drug is the right move but one that’s hard to price October 22, 2013 WITH a portfolio comprising everything from mosquito repellents to hair removal cream and dishwasher tablets, Reckitt’s position as a branded consumer goods company is undisputable. But for years now it’s had a bit on the side – a pharmaceutical arm that produces one thing only, a drug called Suboxone that’s used as a replacement in [...]
Brand Index: Ryanair is working hard to melt the hearts of UK flyers October 22, 2013 ONE MONTH ago, Ryanair shocked the airline industry by revealing it was going to start being nicer to customers. Our research at the time found that, while French and German customers had a fairly dim view of the discount carrier, its reputation was worse in Britain. Well, one month into its new customer service strategy [...]
