LSE defends City in floats blame game December 8, 2011 CONCERNS that fund managers are overpaying for newly-listed shares and investment banks are charging extortionate fees are unfounded, the London Stock Exchange said yesterday, in a report recommending improvements to the IPO market. On a series of key areas, from pre-IPO engagement with the investor community and investment bank fees to the number of banks [...]
Horta Osório could return to Lloyds if the board agrees December 8, 2011 LLOYDS Banking Group chief executive António Horta Osório is having one-to-one meetings with board members with a view to coming back to the firm from sick leave. Horta Osório, who stepped back last month due to “extreme fatigue”, will also be checked over by an independent panel before he can return, City A.M. understands. Independent [...]
Russians join FTSE 100 December 8, 2011 EVRAZ, the Russian miner and steelmaking group part-owned by Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovitch, yesterday said it was “delighted” to be included in the FTSE 100 index. A second Russian group, gold and silver miner Polymetal, was also added to the blue-chip index after the quarterly review by the FTSE committee on Wednesday. Evraz [...]
MRSK lists on LSE to attract new investors December 8, 2011 RUSSIAN power grid company MRSK listed its shares in London yesterday in a move it hopes will boost the liquidity of its stock and enable it to raise funds in the future, its chief finance officer told City A.M. The technical listing, in which no money is raised, will see MRSK list 25 per cent [...]
Linklaters to make cuts to partner count December 8, 2011 MAGIC circle law firm Linklaters is planning cuts to its headcount that could see up to 35 equity partners leave in the next year, sparking fears a second round of redundancies could be about to hit the City. It follows confirmation last week that Allen & Overy is restarting its annual equity management – which [...]
Law firms post strong growth amid turmoil December 8, 2011 THE UK’s top 100 law firms have managed to post strong growth in the second quarter, despite an uncertain backdrop that’s likely to make conditions tough going into 2012. Fee incomes at the biggest 100 firms rose by an average of 9.8 per cent in the three months to 31 October compared to the same [...]
LAW FIRMS MAY BE REGROUPING, BUT THEY’RE ALSO GROWING December 8, 2011 LAW firms are maintaining a bullish stance on the outside, with yesterday’s quarterly Deloitte survey (see right) seeing firms forecast an average increase in fee income of 6.2 per cent for the 2011-12 financial year. But behind the scenes caution reigns. Equity locksteps are being reviewed, the intermittent trickle of redundancies is threatening to turn [...]
Price slashes couldn’t save sales at Tesco December 8, 2011 TESCO sales fell for the fourth quarter in a row yesterday, hitting the bottom end of analyst forecasts. Like-for-like UK sales, excluding VAT and petrol, dropped 0.9 per cent, equalling last quarter’s decline. This comes despite Tesco’s attempt to revive sales with its £500m Big Price Drop campaign. The marketing drive enticed an extra 346,000 [...]
Woes in the UK could last for a while December 8, 2011 THERE is a sense of fin de siècle surrounding Tesco these days. Sir Terry Leahy, who first joined the supermarket giant in 1979, has left the building, with a clutch of his key lieutenants in tow. Sales at existing stores, which have risen inexorably in recent years, are flagging. Its market share, once a source [...]
Peacocks looks to close shops December 8, 2011 LOW-COST fashion retailer Peacocks is said to be mulling a cost-cutting plan to close up to 200 of its shops. The retailer is looking at restructuring its £240m debt pile and operations, according to Sky News. Peacocks currently has more than 500 stores worldwide, having started life as a bazaar in 1884. It delisted from [...]
