MacLean denies poaching Ineos’ finance director April 1, 2015 CHEMICALS firm Synthomer yesterday rejected claims that its new chief exec Calum MacLean had broken the terms of his contract with ex-employer Ineos, setting the scene for a bitter legal clash. Synthomer has hired Steve Bennett as its chief finance officer – but as he had previously worked with MacLean, Ineos’ chairman Jim Ratcliffe has [...]
Greeks slam water-boarding tactics of Eurozone creditors April 1, 2015 PROGRESS on a deal between Greece and its Eurozone creditors was made last night, but not enough to ensure a deal before the end of next week, when Greece is due to repay €460m (£334m). City A.M. also understands that the cap on emergency lending to Greek banks was lifted by €700m last night. One [...]
From Aldermore to Autotrader, flotation fever’s back as IPO returns jump to 8.1 per cent April 1, 2015 The 10 UK stock market floats conducted this year have generated an average return of 8.1 per cent, according to figures released yesterday by financial services firm Deloitte. As of 31 March, these 10 initial public offerings (IPOs) – which include challenger bank Aldermore and Autotrader – had outperformed the FTSE 100. Their 8.1 per cent [...]
Quindell rocked by mistake in deal documents April 1, 2015 TROUBLED Quindell was forced to suspend its shares from trading on Aim for several hours yesterday, after making a “small mistake” in announcing the sale of its professional services division (PSD). The firm also had to cancel a number of trades that took place immediately following the suspension. Quindell confirmed on Monday that it was [...]
StanChart loses another top exec just weeks after board shake-up April 1, 2015 Group executive director Viswanathan Shankar resigned from his board role at Standard Chartered yesterday. The announcement of his departure comes a month after the bank revealed chief executive Peter Sands and chairman Sir John Peace were also on their way out. Shankar was also chief executive for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas, [...]
Productivity growth stutter raises concerns on economy April 1, 2015 UK PRODUCTIVITY declined at the end of 2014 and remains slightly lower than its pre-crisis level. Output per hour worked fell by 0.2 per cent in the final three months of 2014 compared with the three months ending September, according to figures released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. Over 2014 as a whole, [...]
Royal Mint Court set for a big makeover April 1, 2015 DELANCEY has formed a joint venture with LRC Group over the ownership of Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London, ending a year-long stalemate and paving the way for a redevelopment of the five acre estate. Delancey bought the freehold from the Crown Estate in 2010, but LRC acquired debt, secured against the leasehold [...]
Business takes centre stage in election battle April 1, 2015 Zero hours contracts… support from big bosses… tax rates… Charlotte Henry looks at the election row engulfing the City BUSINESS has become a key battleground in a fraught election campaign, with parties appearing to invest more time vying for the support of company leaders than they spend trading statistics over the NHS or the economy. [...]
Asos profit hurt after lowering prices overseas April 1, 2015 SHARES in Asos jumped as much as nine per cent yesterday after the online fashion giant drew a line under last year’s disastrous performance and posted a better-than-expected decline in first-half profit. The group, which targets twenty-something shoppers, had a rollercoaster year after a fire broke out at its warehouse in Yorkshire and international sales [...]
US bankers’ bonuses still leave UK and European staff trailing April 1, 2015 BRITISH bankers receive smaller bonuses than their Eurozone and Swiss rivals, and are utterly outstripped by high-paying US banks, according to figures out today from Emolument. The average investment banker at UK institutions received £126,000 in 2015, up four per cent on the year. But the salary benchmarking site shows this is £10,000 below Eurozone [...]
