Spain to calculate property exposure as auction looms May 16, 2012 THE Spanish government is today expected to appoint independent firms to assess the true valuation of its real-estate exposure in a last-ditch bid to address concerns over the health of its banking sector. Oliver Wyman and BlackRock will compare the book value of loans to their market value as well as their potential value if [...]
Alliance Boots chair: UK is not pro-business May 16, 2012 ALLIANCE BOOTS’ executive chairman yesterday praised the coalition’s “friendly” attitude to business but warned that broader “anti-business” public environment could drive companies away. The drugs company and owner of Boots the chemist, moved its headquarters to Switzerland shortly after Stefano Pessina and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts took the group private in in 2007 [...]
Winning formula of a high street chemist May 16, 2012 WHEN I was growing up in south east London in the 1990s, there was very little in the way of decent shops on the nearby Penge high street. The proliferation of betting and pound shops, which would eventually blight most shopping precincts, was already well-advanced. There were just a few of the chains that you [...]
Clintons set to shut 350 shops May 16, 2012 CLINTON Cards will close 350 stores across the UK, leading to the loss of 2,800 jobs, administrators Zolfo Cooper revealed yesterday. The high street retailer entered administration on 9 May after defaulting on loan repayments. Zolfo Cooper yesterday said Clinton Cards is “burdened with an untenable retail estate” and 350 of its 784 stores nationwide [...]
John Lewis ups sales outlook May 16, 2012 JOHN Lewis, the UK’s biggest department store, yesterday raised sales guidance after outperforming a flat retail market in its first quarter and said the economy is on course for a slow recovery, despite a recent dip back into recession. In the quarter to 28 April the group saw sales growth of 12.2 per cent, equal [...]
Matalan posts solid results May 16, 2012 BUDGET fashion and homeware retailer Matalan defied the retail gloom to post a 1.9 per cent rise in full year sales to £1.1bn. The company said despite “solid” results, margins were hit by discounting, VAT increases, and its decision not to pass on higher input prices to customers. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation [...]
Broker Verrier banned after poaching saga May 16, 2012 THE City regulator has stepped up its war on directors by banning a top broker after he was savaged in a High Court poaching trial. Tony Verrier, a senior executive at BGC Partners, faces a lifetime ban from working in the City after the Financial Services Authority said he “was not a fit and proper [...]
Takeover target London Metal Exchange reports falling profits May 16, 2012 PROFITS at the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 19 per cent last year, as higher costs and investments outweighed a sharp rise in trading volumes. The results come as three major exchanges – CME Group, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, and Intercontinental Exchange – compete to buy the LME, the world’s largest metals marketplace. [...]
PROFILE: BROKERS AT WAR May 16, 2012 AUGUST 2008 Tony Verrier tells Tullett Prebon he is resigning as chief operating officer in order to join rival BGC Partners. SEPTEMBER 2008 Tullett begins legal proceedings against Verrier in an attempt to prevent him working for BGC until the following summer. NOVEMBER 2008 Verrier agrees not to start work for BGC until January 2009. [...]
Dalglish axed as door opens for AVB return May 16, 2012 FORMER Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas last night emerged as a leading contender to replace Kenny Dalglish after Liverpool’s American owners brought the Scot’s second spell in charge to an abrupt end. Newcastle’s Alan Pardew, Wigan’s Roberto Martinez and Swansea’s Brendan Rogers form a trio of rising stars also touted for the Anfield hot-seat, while ex-Reds [...]
