SNOW POLO AND PIGLET RACING FOR SUPER-RICH January 24, 2012 THERE’S MORE than one top-level summit for bankers in Switzerland this week. At the ski resort of Klosters, The Capitalist hears several members of the business elite have been taxing their champagne-addled brains by betting on racing piglets. At least they would have done if fog hadn’t scuppered the trotters’ Derby. Instead, guests at the [...]
More suitors woo Lloyd’s firm Hardy January 24, 2012 THE BATTLE to buy Lloyd’s of London insurer Hardy Underwriting is hotting up, after a pair of new bidders entered the fray. Montpelier Re and Mitsui Sumitomo are said to have expressed an interest in buying the firm and join a list of potential suitors that includes Lloyd’s rival Canopius, Bahrain based Arig and the [...]
PZ Cussons warns tension in Nigeria could dent profits January 24, 2012 SOAP maker PZ Cussons warned yesterday it was likely to report disappointing full-year profits, pointing to political upheaval in Nigeria, challenging trading conditions in Australia and high raw materials costs. Shares in the maker of Imperial Leather soap fell as much as 4.8 per cent after it reported an 11.7 per cent drop in first-half [...]
General Motors chooses Aegis’s Carat for $3bn advertising plan January 24, 2012 GENERAL Motors said yesterday it had picked Carat, part of British advertising group Aegis, to handle its global media planning and buying, in a blow to incumbent Publicis. The GM account, which spends $3bn a year on advertising according to analysts, puts Carat at the helm of all GM duties for consumer-facing media, which includes [...]
NUFFIELD HEALTH EXPANDS GYM PORTFOLIO January 24, 2012 HEALTH charity Nuffield Health yesterday added to its existing portfolio of fitness centres by snapping up Greens Health & Fitness, a chain of 15 gyms previously owned by the De Vere Group. Nuffield now runs 66 consumer and 200 corporate fitness sites across the UK, including the centre on Cousin Lane behind Cannon Street station [...]
Bridgepoint confirms deal to buy Quilter January 24, 2012 PRIVATE equity firm Bridgepoint yesterday signed its deal to buy Quilter, the wealth management business owned by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, for an undisclosed sum expected to be more than £170m. This comes just weeks after Bridgepoint bought online cycling shop Wiggle for €210m (£175.2m) in late 2011 – a year which saw the private [...]
Chemring says 2012 defence market tough January 24, 2012 BRITISH military equipment maker Chemring said it expects defence markets to be challenging in 2012 after it posted a six per cent rise in full-year profit yesterday. The company, which makes ejector seats and other devices for military aircraft, reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £125.6m for the year to the end of October, on [...]
EnQuest buys bigger slice of Kraken field January 24, 2012 ENQUEST has raised its stake in the Kraken oil discovery in the UK North Sea by acquiring a 25 per cent interest from Nautical Petroleum for up to £154m. EnQuest, which bought a 20 percent interest in the Kraken discovery from oil and gas explorer Canamens earlier this month, will become the operator of the [...]
FTSE takes a breather as clouds gather over Greece January 24, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index retreated from six-month peaks yesterday as Eurozone debt woes prompted investors to take profits in banking stocks and rebalance portfolios in favour of high dividend payers. The fall on the London bourse chimed with weaker equity performance in Europe and the United States, on worries that Greece could be heading for [...]
New Europe drama closes Wall Street’s winning run January 24, 2012 US stock edged lower yesterday, ending a five-day rally for the Standard & Poor’s 500, as talks to resolve Greece’s debt crisis hit a snag and earnings from a number of blue chips disappointed. Greece moved closer to the possibility of a chaotic default as talks to restructure the country’s debt stalled. However, the US [...]
