Asian growth lifts Clifford Chance profit July 5, 2011 PROFITS per equity partner at magic circle law firm Clifford Chance passed the £1m mark last year for the first time since 2008, as revenues climbed two per cent to £1.2bn. Despite cost savings of just one per cent across the firm, favourable ratios mean profit growth outstripped the modest rise in revenue, jumping 10 [...]
London IPOs flagging behind rest of world July 5, 2011 THE LONDON market for new company share offers is lagging behind the rest of the world, a report out today by Ernst & Young claims. The total value of capital raised from initial public offerings (IPOs) in the second quarter of this year hit $64.6bn (£40.2bn), up 38 per cent on the same period a [...]
KEEP THE FAITH: TONY BLAIR PRAYS FOR GLOBALISATION WITH VALUES July 5, 2011 NEVER mind the JP Morgan advisory gig, Tony Blair’s real focus post-politics is his religious faith – despite being warned by former aide Alastair Campbell not to make a feature of his Christian beliefs. “We don’t do God,” Campbell growled to Blair, after the former Prime Minister’s Christian faith became the headline in one of [...]
HSBC cuts jobs in France July 5, 2011 HSBC set out sweeping cuts to headcount in its French business yesterday as part of a cost-cutting drive outlined by chief executive Stuart Gulliver. HSBC France said it would cut 672 employees from its 10,150-strong workforce by 2014 to create a leaner and faster-growing operation. The cuts would be through natural turnover without compulsory redundancies, [...]
Arden eyes growth as profits rise July 5, 2011 AIM BROKER Arden Partners returned to profit in the first half of 2011 as it cut expenses and saw trading profits surge, it said yesterday. Arden, which has 34 clients, made a £1.2m pre-tax profit in the six months to the end of April, up from an £0.2m loss in the same period in 2010. [...]
Allianz sells first insurer coco bonds July 5, 2011 GERMAN insurance group Allianz sold €500m (£451m) of so-called “coco” bonds to privately-owned Japanese insurer Nippon Life yesterday in the first use of such instruments in the sector. The contingent convertible bonds Allianz created can convert to common equity in the insurer within ten years of being issued, in the event of certain conditions it [...]
JP Morgan aims for Swiss market share July 5, 2011 JP MORGAN (Suisse) aims to expand its wealth management staff by 15-20 percent a year in the next three to five years, a vote of confidence for Swiss private banking in the face of numerous challenges to the industry. Managing director Andrea Tardy said his bank could take market share despite stiff competition and attacks [...]
Pimco wins inflation bet July 5, 2011 PIMCO, the world’s top bond fund manager, has gained about $50m (£31.1m) on an inflation-related trade that resulted in losses to the trade’s counterparty Morgan Stanley. Pimco, which was concerned about a pick-up in longer-term inflation, began buying 30-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS, people familiar with the matter said. Morgan Stanley is thought [...]
IAG traffic up on premium travel growth July 5, 2011 INTERNATIONAL Airlines Group (IAG), formed by the merger of BA and Iberia, posted a rise in passenger traffic for June thanks to growth in first-class and business-class travel. Traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 9.2 per cent versus June 2010, while passenger load factor – a measure of how well it fills its planes [...]
Interserve bullish on the year after contract wins July 5, 2011 SUPPORT services and construction firm Interserve is working to a bid pipeline of around £6bn, chief executive Adrian Ringrose said yesterday as the firm reported stable trading. Interserve, which is expanding its Middle East businesses, said in a statement that it expected stable 2011 trading in what remained a challenging environment. Interserve said contract wins [...]
