Weak pound fuels robust exports June 1, 2010 THE weak pound boosted exports with May another positive month for manufacturers. Demand for British goods is on the rise despite the tough economic climate. The Chartered Institute of purchasing and Supply (CIPS) said its index of activity, carried out by Markit, was stable at 58 in May. Under the data anything about 50 represents [...]
Gartmore’s Rambourg faces fresh FSA probe June 1, 2010 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to launch its own probe into Gartmore star fund manager Guillaume Rambourg, sparking fresh uncertainty over his long-term future at the fund firm. The investigation comes just a month after Rambourg returned to the firm as an analyst following an internal probe that found he had breached internal regulations [...]
AIG rejects new Pru offer June 1, 2010 AMERICAN International Group has rejected Prudential’s move to lower the price its is offering for the company’s Asian arm AIA. The snub threatens to derail the industry’s largest ever transaction. Prudential said in a statement it had proposed to cut the deal’s value to $30.38bn (£20.9bn) – offering $23bn in cash and about 2.16bn new [...]
Ryanair to pay dividend after £289m profit June 1, 2010 RYANAIR has reported pre-tax profits of €341m (£289m) for the year to March – and announced a one-off dividend to shareholders. Passenger numbers were up 14 per cent on last year while revenue jumped two per cent. investors will share a dividend pot of €500m on the strength of the results. The profit represents an [...]
Banks to be hit with bigger bill for FSA May 28, 2010 MAJOR banks must dig deeper into their pockets over the coming year to pay for tougher supervision, the Financial Services Authority has said. The FSA is wholly funded from levies on financial firms and said its annual bill for 2010-11 will jump ten per cent to £454.7m though 60 per cent of firms will actually [...]
City shake-up to get more women in boardrooms May 28, 2010 A shake-up of City firms in which more women will be put in boardrooms, will be undertaken as part of a review of corporate governance. The Financial Reporting Council said it wanted to “explicitly” ensure hiring committees took gender and diversity into account. Only 12 per cent of FTSE 100 directors are women and seven [...]
Shell to buy East Resources for £3.2bn May 28, 2010 ROYAL Dutch Shell has agreed to buy US natural gas explorer East Resources for £3.2bn. The cash offer was made to East Resources and its private equity investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR). East Resources holds more than 650,000 acres in the Marcellus shale – a rock formation in the US which is believed to have [...]
Travis Perkins in £553m offer for BSS May 28, 2010 BUILDERS merchant Travis Perkins said it has made an £553m offer for plumbing and heating company BSS Group. The firms said in a joint statement they were in advanced discussions regarding a cash and shares offer from Travis Perkins that values each BSS share at 433 pence. Travis Perkins said its indicative offer comprises 232.91 [...]
BP oil disaster bill hits $930m May 28, 2010 BP has admitted that its ongoing battle to stem the flow of oil into the Gulf has so far cost it $930m (£638m). The company said that its latest attempt to stop the massive leak is not guaranteed to succeed because of the difficult deepwater conditions in which the operation is being carried out. Up [...]
F&C joins rebellion against Pru deal May 28, 2010 PRUDENTIAL investor F&C Asset Management has joined the rebellion against the insurer’s plans to buy AIA. The £100bn management house has told Prudential it will vote against the $35bn (£24.6bn) bid for AIG’s Asian arm at the crucial shareholder meeting on 7 June. In a statement F&C said it did not object to Prudential’s strategy [...]
