London risks massive shortfall of homes if building is not boosted March 4, 2015 The definition of London needs to be broadened so as to include areas of the south east, forming a London City Region, or risk losing its status as a global leading city, according to professional services firm Aecom. The group also warned that growth in London’s population will lead to a shortfall of one million [...]
UBS block trade of Abertis stock met with weak market demand March 4, 2015 WEAK demand for shares left investment bank UBS holding stock in Abertis Infraestructuras for a time yesterday, after an unexpected dip in the share’s price. UBS was acting for private equity firm CVC which wanted to sell half of its stake in Abertis, amounting to 7.5 per cent of the Spanish shares. The bank ran [...]
StanChart chops exec bonuses as profits tumble March 4, 2015 OUTGOING Standard Chartered chief Peter Sands is not taking a bonus for 2014, yesterday announcing all board-level execs who served for the full year are losing the payout. Pre-tax profits dived 30 per cent to $4.2bn (£2.8bn) on falling revenues, rising costs and the soaring bills from regulations and taxes. The UK-headquartered bank’s income fell [...]
UK wins rare victory in EU courts over sites of euro clearing houses March 4, 2015 LONDON will not lose its euro-denominated clearing houses to finance centres in the Eurozone, as the European Court of Justice ruled in Britain’s favour on the controversy. The European Central Bank (ECB) had tried to force clearing houses to move into the Eurozone. That would harm the UK which is the biggest centre for clearing euro-denominated [...]
US adds 212,200 jobs last month as firms report positive growth March 4, 2015 THE US private sector added 212,000 jobs in February, according to data released by ADP yesterday. The amount of jobs added in January was revised up from the earlier 213,000 figure to 250,000. “Job growth is strong, but slowing from the torrid pace of recent months,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. “Job [...]
Goodwin‘s HQ to become RBS’ enterprise hub March 4, 2015 THE EXECUTIVE wing of RBS’ sprawling Edinburgh HQ is to become an accelerator for new businesses, the state-backed bank said yesterday. The site gained notoriety under former boss Fred “The Shred” Goodwin, who cut costs elsewhere, but built a luxurious set of offices for executives. The unit is intended to bring together expertise and financing to [...]
Syriza in danger of breaking key election pledges March 4, 2015 GREECE’S anti-austerity Syriza government could be set to break some of its main election promises. One Spanish official has said Greece could be in for a third bailout programme, while Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis is struggling to rehire his ministry’s former cleaners. “If Greece cannot gain access to the markets between now and June… we [...]
Afren shares drop as it crosses the Rubicon with bond default March 4, 2015 TROUBLED oil firm Afren defaulted on its 2016 bonds yesterday, sending shares crashing down by 27.43 per cent. The company announced its decision not to pay $15m (£9.8m) of interest, which was originally due on 1 February. The firm had already utilised a 30-day grace period. Afren said yesterday that it had received assurances from [...]
Silicon Roundabout costs are on the rise: East end property tech bubble pricing out small businesses March 4, 2015 The property tech bubble in London’s east end is pricing small businesses out of the market. Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, Aldgate and Whitechapel: over the last decade these places have become the breeding ground for media and tech start-ups, as well as larger blue-chip companies looking to grow their digital operations. However, East London’s success at [...]
Standard Chartered bonus bungle shows investors need to speak up March 4, 2015 Falling profits, boardroom turmoil and a declining return on equity: by any measure, Standard Chartered’s 2014 was a year to forget. So the decision of Peter Sands (whose resignation last week was met with a surge in the bank’s share price) to forgo a variable pay award for the year was necessary to avoid a [...]
