Faith in Bank of England collapses to a record low December 15, 2011 PUBLIC satisfaction in the Bank of England’s managing of inflation has plummeted to the lowest level since records began in 1999. The net proportion of respondents satisfied that the Bank is “doing its job to set interest rates to control inflation” collapsed to plus nine per cent in a survey conducted last month – down [...]
Boom and bust-ups at the broker December 15, 2011 COLLINS Stewart was founded in 1991 by Andy Stewart and Leigh Collins as a partnership with the investment bank Singer & Friedlander Securities. Collins retired from the firm in March 2000, and in May that year, chief executive Terry Smith and Stewart led a £122m management buyout from Singer & Friedlander. The company subsequently floated [...]
S&P takes dim view of Spain’s banks with fresh downgrades December 15, 2011 STANDARD & Poor’s downgraded 10 Spanish banks yesterday, and left the threat of further rating cuts hovering over the troubled lenders. The rating agency downgraded prominent names such as Bankia, Caixabank, Ibercaja, Bankinter, Sabadell, and Popular. S&P was applying new ratings criteria after altering its methodology last month. Spanish banks are heavily exposed to bad, [...]
Europe’s deal faces dissent from the east December 15, 2011 EUROPEAN Union efforts to further integrate member states took a blow yesterday, with senior politicians in the Czech Republic and Hungary voicing concerns over a proposed new treaty. The eastern European states will not be party to a tighter European agreement if it compromises their fiscal independence, it was suggested. Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas, [...]
Eurozone decline less sharp than feared, new survey data reveals December 15, 2011 THE DECLINE in the Eurozone’s private sector eased a little this month, but a recession still looks inevitable with the region’s periphery struggling badly, a key business survey showed yesterday. Markit’s Eurozone Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which measures the activity of thousands of Eurozone companies, rose for a second month in December to 47.9 [...]
Zynga biggest tech flotation since Google December 15, 2011 ZYNGA will top off a lively week for US flotations today as it begins trading on Nasdaq, after pricing its heavily-anticipated IPO at $10 per share, raising $1bn (£645m) and valuing the social gaming company at $8.9bn. This is a large step down from the $2bn it wanted to raise and the valuation of $20bn [...]
Nokia looks to launch another handset a month after Lumia December 15, 2011 NOKIA is preparing to launch a follow-up to its make-or-break Lumia 800 handset, less than a month after its launch, City A.M. has learned. The new smartphone, which may be called the Lumia 900, will be built into the same chassis as its predecessor but will feature a bigger screen and may be loaded with [...]
Relief as Old Mutual deal cuts debt pile December 15, 2011 SHARES in insurer and pensions group Old Mutual soared more than 10 per cent yesterday after it said it would raise SEK 22.5bn (£2.08bn) by offloading its Nordic businesses. The London-listed group will sell the long-term savings and banking operations in Sweden, Denmark and Norway to Skandia Liv, its mutual unit owned by policyholders. Old Mutual, [...]
Car output up for sixth month December 15, 2011 CAR production rose in November, providing a glimmer of hope that Britain’s industrial sector might avoid a new recession. Production went up for the sixth month in a row, gaining 8.5 per cent compared to last year to reach 136,111 cars, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. In the year to date, [...]
UniCredit is set for capital raise December 15, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS at Italian bank UniCredit yesterday overwhelmingly backed a highly dilutive €7.5bn (£7.3bn) capital increase to shore up its ravaged balance sheet. Italy’s most internationally exposed lender faces a €7.97bn capital shortfall – the second-biggest in Europe after Spain’s Santander — to meet tougher requirements set by the European Banking Authority to buttress the region’s [...]
