Electra mulls asset raid amid banking shake-up December 6, 2011 PRIVATE equity house Electra is considering a raid on bank assets as lenders deleverage amid the Eurozone crisis and tougher regulatory demands. Electra will look healthy businesses, as well as those with a “bad balance sheet”, chief investment officer Alex Fortescue told City A.M. The buyout group is not interested in full-scale turnaround deals, however. [...]
Private equity houses in China investment link December 6, 2011 THREE major private equity houses have agreed an investment link-up with China Development Bank, a power-house of the Eastern economy. Permira, KKR and TPG Capital yesterday announced strategic agreements with CDB, which has also launched a foreign investment platform. Permira will become sole European private equity partner to CDB Capital, the Chinese bank’s asset manager. [...]
House prices fall again in weak market December 6, 2011 HOUSE prices fell in November, reversing October’s gain as the market remained unpredictably choppy, Halifax announced yesterday. The bank’s monthly house price index showed a fall of 0.9 per cent in the month, taking the annual fall to one per cent and the quarterly decline to 0.6 per cent. The fall compares with a 1.2 [...]
Consumer confidence gives little to celebrate December 6, 2011 AFTER Mervyn King’s dire warnings on the economic situation, I wish I could present more positive news on consumer confidence – but the November data from the YouGov HEAT report paints rather a bleak picture. The index is at its lowest since March, job security has fallen to its worst level in two years, perceived [...]
Asia hit by Eurozone’s slowdown December 6, 2011 ASIAN economic growth is slowing as demand from crisis-hit Europe declines, the Asia Development Bank (ADB) warned yesterday. The ADB cut east Asia’s growth forecasts for 2012 to 7.2 per cent, down from 7.5 per cent predicted in September. “The turmoil emanating from Europe poses a growing danger to trade and finance,” the report stated. [...]
Car sales drop as sluggish economy hits UK demand December 6, 2011 New car sales fell in the year to November, though not as severely as was feared according to data out yesterday from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Car registrations in 2011 so far are down 4.5 per cent compared with the same period last year, at 1.82m. However, the SMMT believes sales [...]
Is S&P right to put Europe on watch? December 6, 2011 THIS week we’re asking members of our Voice of the City / PoliticsHome.com panel for their opinion on Standard & Poor’s shock decision to put the ratings of 15 countries, including Germany and France, on review late on Monday. Was S&P right to act when it did, and do you see any link between the [...]
EURO CRISIS REACHES AUSTRALIA December 6, 2011 Glenn Stevens, governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, slashed interest rates for the second consecutive month yesterday, blaming the deteriorating global economic picture and rising bank funding costs – both due to the Eurozone crisis. The cut takes headline interest rates down to 4.25 percent, and represents the first double-cut since the depths of [...]
Saab hovers on brink without GM support December 6, 2011 GENERAL Motors said yesterday it would not support a proposed ownership structure for Saab that included a Chinese bank, moving the Swedish auto company closer to liquidation. “We have reviewed Saab’s proposed changes regarding the sale of the company,” GM spokesman James Cain said in a statement. “Nothing in the proposal changes GM’s position. We [...]
Christmas trading is slow at Metro as it issues profit alert December 6, 2011 METRO, the world’s fourth-biggest retailer, issued a profit warning that sent shockwaves through the sector yesterday, saying Christmas trading had started slowly and the Eurozone debt crisis was undermining consumer confidence. Shares in the German group, which runs cash and carries, hypermarkets, electrical goods and department stores, slumped over 13 per cent. “We feel the [...]
