Wal-Mart faces US investigation April 23, 2012 ● US politicians said yesterday they were launching an investigation into allegations of bribery at Wal-Mart’s Mexican affiliate. Two Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Wal-Mart chief executive Mike Duke to request a face-to-face meeting with company officials over claims the company halted an internal probe into bribery in Mexico. Wal-Mart shares fell 4.7 per [...]
London needs a champion to revive new issue market April 23, 2012 THERE’S been a drama playing out over the past few days in London that in recent times we haven’t seen enough of. A maker of luxury cashmere sweaters worn by Prince William and James Bond met fund managers to gauge interest in a share flotation. The fund management groups in attendance, who included Citadel Group, [...]
BAA offloads Edinburgh for shock £800m April 23, 2012 THE dismantling of BAA’s British interests moved forward yesterday when it agreed to sell Edinburgh airport to City airport owner Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a surprise £807m. GIP, an investment fund founded by Credit Suisse and General Electric, beat a consortium led by JP Morgan Asset Management’s infrastructure fund. The price dwarfs the £500m [...]
Entrepreneur makes a £25m offer for station April 23, 2012 Former City worker Ajit Chambers has been in touch to say that he is being partnered by a billionaire investor to make a £25m offer for the disused Brompton Road railway station in west London. Chambers left the City to set up the Old Underground Company with a mission to make something of London’s disused [...]
The drachma makes a City return April 23, 2012 ■ Many economists have been anticipating the return of the drachma for some time but up until now attempts to use the old Greek currency would have proved futile. However, this week the Real Greek restaurant on Bankside is accepting the drachma for side dishes in a revival of the currency that went out of [...]
Outgoing SFO boss lets off steam about Al Yamamah April 23, 2012 The outgoing head of the Serious Fraud Office has decided not to go quietly. As his four-year term comes to an end, Richard Alderman has concluded that massive damage was done to the UK’s reputation for dealing with corruption when it shelved a bribery investigation into the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia. “I [...]
Computerised trading shrinks FTSE 100 deals April 23, 2012 THE average trade size of FTSE 100 stocks on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) shrank dramatically during the last year, according to research by Morgan Stanley that sheds light on the effect that automated trading is having on the market. LSE data shows that the average size of a FTSE 100 trade was just over [...]
SABMiller picks Alan Clark to replace Mackay as chief exec April 23, 2012 BREWER SABMiller said yesterday its European chief Alan Clark will succeed long-standing chief exec Graham Mackay in July 2013 in a reshuffle that will see the 62-year old Mackay become chairman. The move appears to fly in the face of the UK corporate governance code, which suggests chief executives should not go on to become [...]
Netflix shares tank after loss April 23, 2012 VIDEO rental company Netflix last night reported a first-quarter loss as the company pushed ahead with its expansion into international markets. Netflix posted first-quarter revenue of $870m, up 21 per cent from a year earlier. Net income fell, and the company reported an earnings loss of eight cents a share. Stocks, which had dropped four [...]
Invesco aims to sell $18bn arm April 23, 2012 INVESCO is trying to sell its $18bn (£11.2bn) wealth management business, according to five sources. The Atlanta-based asset management company wants to sell Atlantic Trust Private Wealth Management, which has $18bn in assets under management, because it is not core to its business, three of the sources said. An Invesco spokesman declined to comment. Atlantic [...]
