ING launches debt buyback to sell insurer March 8, 2012 ING has become the latest European bank to launch a buyback of its own debt in order to comply with EU regulations. The Dutch lender said it would tender an offer for €2.6bn (£2.2bn) of securities to prepare its insurance unit for a sale mandated by the European Commission on competition grounds. The bank needs [...]
SMEs are now winning 14pc of all government contracts March 8, 2012 THE VALUE of government work going to small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) is set to double to £6bn in this financial year, the cabinet office will announce today. SMEs now undertake 13.7 per cent of all government contracts by value, up from 6.5 per cent just over a year ago, the figures show. Cabinet [...]
Green Investment Bank will be based in London and Edinburgh March 8, 2012 BRITAIN’S Green Investment Bank (GIB), designed to spur private sector investment in low-carbon projects, will be based in Edinburgh and London, the government said yesterday. The headquarters of the GIB will be located in Edinburgh, with its main transaction team based in London to enable a greater commercial reach nationally than could be achieved from [...]
Panmure abandons loss-making US arm March 8, 2012 BROKER Panmure Gordon has sold its loss-making US subsidiary to management for a nominal sum as it attempts to focus on its core UK business. Panmure aquired ThinkEquity in 2007, just before the financial crisis but the current board feel that the San Francisco-based firm is unlikely to “produce an acceptable level of profitability in the [...]
MWB boss toasts exit for winery after 30 years March 8, 2012 MANY companies praise their outgoing boss as irreplaceable but in the case of Richard Balfour-Lynn, who is leaving the top of MWB after 30 years, it appears to be true. The property investment firm has no immediate plans to replace Balfour-Lynn, 58, (pictured), who yesterday announced he will step down as chief executive of MWB [...]
FSA issues £109,000 fine and bans ex-Royal Liver Assurance director March 8, 2012 REGULATORS have banned George McGregor, the former finance director of Royal Liver Assurance (RLA), for abusing his position and – in one case – forging the signature of his chief executive. However even though the Financial Services Authority (FSA) determined that his conduct “merited a fine of £1,000,000” the regulator reduced the sum to £109,000 due [...]
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY MARKED AT STOCK EXCHANGE March 8, 2012 MORE than 50 leading business women, including Anya Hindmarch, Ruth Rodgers and Helena Morrissey gathered at the London Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell yesterday in celebration of International Women’s Day. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg joined the business leaders at the ceremony, and said there was still a long way to go to [...]
WM Morrison aided by hunt for bargains March 8, 2012 A NEW breed of super shopper is hunting down bargains and posting tips on social networks, supermarket chain WM Morrison said yesterday. The chain, the UK’s fourth largest grocer, yesterday reported a profit of £947m in 2011 – up 8.4 per cent on the previous year. Chief executive Dalton Philips attributed some of the gains [...]
McDonald’s wary as cold weather weighs on sales March 8, 2012 MCDONALD’S yesterday reported global February sales that missed Wall Street’s target as analysts underestimated the impact of Europe’s harsh winter and economic upheaval on sales. McDonald’s saw a 7.5 per cent gain in February sales at global restaurants open at least 13 months, below average analyst estimates of 7.7 per cent. Europe, which just edges [...]
Carrefour puts stop to growth plan for Europe March 8, 2012 CARREFOUR, Europe’s top retailer, slashed its dividend and investment plans yesterday in anticipation of another tough year of shoppers cutting spending in austerity-hit southern Europe and in its core French market. The world’s second-biggest retailer behind Wal-Mart halved its dividend to preserve cash and put its plan to revive its European hypermarkets on hold. Carrefour, [...]
