Takeover Panel puts pressure on Xstrata bid June 30, 2009 XSTRATA was yesterday forced to put out a statement clarifying the cost savings that could be achieved through a merger with rival Anglo American, after the Takeover Panel waded into the stand-off between the two miners. The Takeover Panel asked Xstrata to clarify its estimates for cost savings following its failure to rebuff suggestions that [...]
HMV profits from demise of rival firms June 30, 2009 ENTERTAINMENT retailer HMV yesterday reported an 11 per cent rise in annual pre-tax profits after stealing market share following the demise of its rivals. The group, which also owns bookstore Waterstones, said pre-tax profits rose to £63m in the 12 months to 25 April compared to £56.6m in the same period last year. Total sales [...]
Stewart quits as Cenkos CEO June 30, 2009 ANDY Stewart has stepped down as chief executive of Cenkos, the City brokerage he founded four years ago. Stewart has been appointed as executive deputy chairman and has handed over the reins to former group finance director Simon Melling, the firm said in a statement yesterday. But Stewart was keen to quash speculation he will [...]
Carpetright suffers a 72 per cent drop in profits with little sign of recovery June 30, 2009 CARPETRIGHT, Britain’s biggest carpet retailer, yesterday said normal trading conditions would not resume for at least 12 months as it posted a 72 per cent slump in full-year profit and slashed its dividend. The group reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £17.2m in the year to 2 May. This compares with analysts’ consensus forecast of [...]
New directors for AIG at subdued annual meeting June 30, 2009 AMERICAN International Group (AIG) got a new slate of government-backed directors at a subdued annual meeting yesterday, effectively revamping its board after the insurer’s $180bn taxpayer bailout. The meeting attracted far fewer investors than in years past and wrapped up in less than an hour, with the outcome of company proposals all but assured by [...]
DO YOU THINK HMV CAN CONTINUE TO STORM THE RETAIL CHARTS? June 30, 2009 TONY SHIRET CREDIT SUISSEHMV has delivered clean full year pre-tax profits of £63m, slightly ahead of consensus. However, we remain concerned about HMV’s increasing exposure to the highly cyclical video games market as well as the more price competitive technology product areas. JOHN STEVENSON KBC PEEL HUNT For the coming year, we believe the group [...]
UBS may close offshore accounts June 30, 2009 US clients of Swiss bank UBS will be blocked from accessing secret accounts unless they transfer their money onshore or close the account, sources said yesterday. The bank is moving to exit its offshore services for American clients amid accusations from the US authorities that the bank helps its citizens hide their money from the [...]
Germany tweaks bad bank offer June 30, 2009 The German government has reached an agreement that will improve the terms of a “bad bank” deal allowing lenders to clear their balance sheets of toxic assets. The state initially set a cut-off point for the valuation of toxic assets of 31 March 2009, but has revised it to 30 June 2008, before the Lehman [...]
Crdit Agricole in CACEIS deal June 30, 2009 French bank Crédit Agricole said yesterday it had completed a deal to buy 35 per cent of fund administrator CACEIS from investment bank Natixis. The transaction raises the lender’s stake in CACEIS to 85 per cent, with Natixis rettaining the remainder. CACEIS is one of the world leaders in investor services, with around ¤2.2 trillion [...]
Yell falls as it commences talks on debt June 30, 2009 SHARES in Yell Group dropped yesterday after it said that it had started talks over the restructuring of its £4bn debt – just eight months after it renegotiated its covenants – and reported worsening trading conditions. The struggling Yellow Pages publisher said that falls in revenues and core profit were accelerating, and that it planned [...]
