Soc Gen sees profits drop as it scales back its investment arm May 3, 2012 FRENCH lender Société Générale (SocGen) yesterday reported a drop in profits after it cut lending in its investment bank, despite a rise in trading. The bank’s net profits were down 20 per cent to €732m in the first three months of 2012 compared to the same period last year, although, stripping out the effect of an [...]
BRIGHT FOOD’S SHOPPING LIST May 3, 2012 MAY 2012 Agrees to buy 60% stake in Weetabix AUGUST 2011 Took 75% stake in Australian food firm Manassen, which produces Jelly Belly JULY 2010 Buys 51% stake in the milk processing arm of the New Zealand’s Synlait And the ones that got away… • July 2010 – trumped by Singaporean palm oil producer Wilmar [...]
ADVISERS ROTHSCHILD May 3, 2012 JENNIFER YU HEAD OF GREATER CHINA BRIGHT Foods was advised by Rothschild and Linklaters’ teams in Britain and China. Rothschild’s team here was made up of Akeel Sachak, global head of consumer, Robert Plowman, Jessica Gretton and Abhishek Wahi. In China the deal was led by Jennifer Yu, Rothschild’s head of Greater China, and Ting-Jie [...]
Who are the rebels? May 3, 2012 BEFORE yesterday only three FTSE 100 firms had seen their remuneration reports rejected in the nine years since shareholders gained the right to vote on such matters. But the rebellion by Aviva shareholders shows the growing tendency for major institutional investors to take an interest in executive pay. The identity of voters was secret, yet [...]
Shareholder revolts don’t get much worse than this May 3, 2012 IT DOESN’T get much bigger than this. Fifty-nine per cent of shareholders refused to back Aviva’s remuneration report yesterday, either by voting against it (50 per cent) or abstaining (nine per cent). Of those who cast a ballot, 54 per cent voted against. To illustrate how bad this is for Aviva, we need to put [...]
Rise & fall of Trinity Mirror May 3, 2012 TRINITY Mirror chief executive Sly Bailey handed in her resignation last night after shareholders took issue with her large pay package in the midst of falling profits and sales. Bailey received almost £1.8m in cash and share awards last year, while the company’s operating profit fell 15 per cent to £104m, despite cost cuts that [...]
SHARE PRICE FALLS THAT GOT INVESTORS WORRIED May 3, 2012 TRINITY MIRROR Shares have plunged more than 90 per cent in the 10 years since Sly Bailey took charge of the company. The group owns the Daily Mirror plus more than 100 regional newspapers – but has a market cap of just £82m. AVIVA Investors are angry because the insurer’s shares have fallen 58 per [...]
Hopes for rate cut dealt blow by hawk Draghi May 3, 2012 MORE monetary easing is firmly off the agenda as European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi yesterday said he sets policy for the whole Eurozone – including countries with strong growth and low unemployment – not just those which are struggling. The euro rose 0.21 per cent against the yen and moved off a two-week [...]
Calls mount for probe into the Bank of England’s role in crisis May 3, 2012 INFLUENTIAL MP Andrew Tyrie called for an inquiry into the Bank of England’s actions in the financial crisis yesterday, after Mervyn King claimed he saw bank problems building but was powerless to act. After years of refusing to hold an inquiry, Bank governor King yesterday suggested he would drop his opposition if one was proposed. [...]
Tucker urges regulators to end too big to fail banking model May 3, 2012 GOVERNMENTS must end the “too big to fail” banking model with a credible resolution mechanism for failed banks or face higher borrowing costs, a top Bank of England official said yesterday. States must ensure markets never again view banks as guaranteed, said deputy governor Paul Tucker, which means creating a system which successfully contains disorder [...]
