Retail boss found guilty February 7, 2013 THE boss of failed retail group Baugur, one-time king of the British high street, was found guilty of tax evasion yesterday. Jon Asgeir Johannesson, whose investment company owned stakes in a string of British high-street retailers including Hamley’s, Iceland and House of Fraser, was handed a suspended one-year prison sentence and a fined of 62m [...]
New governor vows to shake up central bank February 7, 2013 MARK Carney yesterday pledged to shake up weak economic forecasting, work out how to unwind quantitative easing (QE) and reorganise the Bank to make sure its vast new powers over banks can be used properly. The Canadian governor showed some disagreement with Sir Mervyn King, arguing interest rates should be raised when policy needs to [...]
Charming Carney wins hearts February 7, 2013 GOLDMAN Sachs bankers don’t often get a warm welcome from Labour MPs. Nor do public sector staff earning the best part of £1m. Lauded as the greatest central banker of his generation – and, as it happens, the best looking – Mark Carney was surely in for a hard bump back to earth. “Quarter of [...]
Apple to chew over proposals to return cash February 7, 2013 APPLE said yesterday it would consider proposals from US billionaire David Einhorn urging the company to return more of its colossal cash pile to shareholders. Einhorn’s hedge fund Greenlight Capital, which owns 0.12 per cent of the iPhone and iPad maker, yesterday said it was taking legal action over Apple’s proposals to change its company [...]
Warner Music wins prized record label Parlophone in £487m deal February 7, 2013 WARNER Music has bought the Parlophone record label from Universal Music, winning a bidding war against rivals including Sony Music and BMG. Warner is paying £487m for the label, whose artist roster includes Coldplay, Kylie Minogue, Radiohead and Kraftwerk, after significantly outbidding three other parties for the label. A joint bid from Sony Music and [...]
Richards quits CMC Markets February 7, 2013 DOUG Richards has left CMC Markets, the spread-betting group, majority-owned by Peter Cruddas, the group confirmed yesterday. As revealed by City A.M., Richards’ position as chief executive has been taken up by Cruddas. “I am very proud of the role I have played in building the strong proposition that CMC Markets offers active traders today,” [...]
Lazard’s losses beat forecasts February 7, 2013 LAZARD yesterday reported quarterly results that beat analysts’ estimates as revenue from its advisory business rose 19 per cent. The investment bank reported a net loss of $5.3m (£3.4m), compared to a net loss of $4.8m a year earlier. Operating revenue rose 22 per cent to $574m. Advisory business revenue was $309m. “The implementation of [...]
Credit Suisse’s staff cuts shore up weak profits February 7, 2013 SWISS giant Credit Suisse saw profits rise in the final quarter of 2012 with falling staff costs helping the bank through a year of tough reforms in the industry, its financial results showed yesterday. But weak investment bank revenues and a slight drop in wealth management earnings meant the rise in profits disappointed analysts, and [...]
Barclays’ investment bankers wait to hear their fate February 7, 2013 When Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins speaks about shredding Bob Diamond’s legacy, as he did the other day, many of his group’s rivals are hoping he is talking about doing away with an actual part of the bank, rather than a cultural construct. For the growth of Barclays’ investment bank has been one of the [...]
Australia Bank sees profits up February 7, 2013 NATIONAL Australia Bank (NAB) saw profits increase in the first quarter of 2013 as its UK units – the Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks – began to improve, the group reported yesterday. Cash profits for the first three months of the bank’s financial year came it at A$1.45bn (£950m), up four per cent on each quarter [...]
