Technocrats take charge November 10, 2011 GREECE appointed former central banker Lucas Papademos as Prime Minister yesterday, taking over from George Papandreou. Meanwhile former European commissioner Mario Monti (above, left) was appointed senator for life by President Napolitano, leading analysts to predict he will replace the resigning Silvio Berlusconi. Both are expected to lead technocratic governments that are intended to override [...]
Crédit Agricole hit by €600m Greek debt loss November 10, 2011 FRANCE’S third-biggest listed bank, Crédit Agricole, said yesterday that third-quarter net profit slumped by 65 per cent on the back of Greek sovereign debt losses. The bank, which is majority-owned by a group of regional banking cooperatives, said it booked a €637m (£545m) charge after writing down its Greek holdings by 60 per cent, in [...]
Schroders hit by £20bn loss on Eurozone November 10, 2011 BLUE-CHIP fund manger Schroders saw more than £20bn wiped off the value of its funds in the last quarter amid global market turmoil. The investment group also warned that its intermediary and private banking businesses would continue to face tough conditions until the Eurozone crisis is resolved. Yesterday in a third quarter trading statement it [...]
Allen & Overy posts healthy revenue rise for first half but says debt crisis will affect rest of the year November 10, 2011 MAGIC circle law firm Allen & Overy has seen an 11 per cent rise in revenue at the mid-way point of its financial year, hitting £582m. But managing partner Wim Dejonghe warned that headwinds could slow growth over the next six months, with the firm’s “healthy” performance unlikely to be matched in the second half. [...]
RBC celebrates new mandate win as broker to Ophir Energy November 10, 2011 RBC CAPITAL Markets will today be named as a joint broker to Ophir Energy, the FTSE 250 company part backed by the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. Ophir has decided to bring in RBC, which has a large balance sheet and growing expertise in the energy and resources sector, at the expense of Credit Suisse, which [...]
3i in dividend sweetener for shareholders November 10, 2011 PRIVATE equity house 3i Group faces an anxious wait to see if a doubling of its dividend and a wave of job cuts will pacify its unhappy shareholders. Last night serial critic Laxey Partners dismissed the dividend rise as pointless while other key investors Blackrock, Schroders, Scottish Widows and Legal & General all declined to put [...]
Murdoch puts blame on his former execs November 10, 2011 FORMER News Corp executives rounded on each other yesterday as the battle to lay the blame for the phone hacking scandal became increasingly bitter. James Murdoch told a parliamentary committee the former legal head of News International, Tom Crone, and its former editor Colin Myler misled both him and parliament about how widespread phone hacking [...]
Mirror gets boost from the News of the World closure November 10, 2011 Trinity Mirror expects to profit from the turmoil at its rival News International, with its Sunday circulations rising following the closure of the News of the World. The publisher of the popular Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror tabloids said its revenue for the last four months is in line with the same period in 2010, [...]
Euromoney sees its sales rocket November 10, 2011 Euromoney, the financial information arm of Daily Mail & General Trust, increased sales by 10 per cent in the last year and said first-quarter trading was in line with its expectations. But the publisher of Euromoney magazine said its outlook remains uncertain, as the big banks that form an important part of its client base [...]
Mecom hit by low confidence November 10, 2011 European publishing group Mecom said plunging consumer confidence is holding back advertising in its newspapers, and will result in an unexpected drop in earnings. Shares in the group, which publishes newspapers in the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Norway, fell as much as 15 per cent to 114p in early trade, the lowest level since January [...]
