CITY WORKERS COME TO NEST IN THE HERON May 8, 2011 Gerald Ronson’s upscale housing project has found buyers for 60 per cent of its 285 apartments, his company confirmed yesterday. The Heron development near the Barbican, a sister project to the Heron Tower (pictured), has attracted an even split of City workers and international business people, a spokesperson said, with the flats so far selling [...]
Vincent Tchenguiz selling in St Tropez May 8, 2011 VINCENT Tchenguiz has put his luxury French villa on the market for €30m (£25m) – after spending one night there in five years of ownership. The elder brother of the Iranian-born business partnership has appointed the estate agents Knight Frank to sell the property, Villa Symphonie, in St Tropez A spokesman for Tchenguiz insisted he [...]
Pod cash injection to fund fresh stores across the capital May 8, 2011 HEALTHY fast-food chain Pod has secured funding for an ambitious expansion throughout the City and across central London, with a view to rolling out the brand nationally. Pod, which opened its first branch at London Wall in 2005, has £2.5m of fresh funding from investor JGR Capital; £500,000 from some of Pod’s 80-odd existing shareholders [...]
Banks urged to shrink to boost profit May 8, 2011 INVESTMENT banks should curtail their post financial crisis expansion and shrink their services to boost profitability, according to a report out today. Almost 50 per cent of 170 interim managers working in the financial services sector believe investment banks need to cut poorly performing product lines or services, the survey by consultancy firm Interim Partners [...]
OPEC dramatic decision unlikely May 8, 2011 Qatar’s oil minister said he does not expect OPEC to make a “dramatic” decision during the upcoming OPEC meeting in June, and that the market is still well supplied. Mohammed al-Sada said: “Today the price of most commodities has dropped, not only oil. We think that fundamentals are fine and we cannot see any shortage [...]
ITV ad revenue decline forecast May 8, 2011 ITV is expected to report its first decline in advertising revenues for 18 months when it gives a trading update on Wednesday. ITV chief Adam Crozier will announce the broadcaster’s advertising revenues for May and June have dropped year-on-year by seven per cent and 20 per cent respectively, according to weekend reports. The decline would [...]
Japan to keep nuclear power May 8, 2011 Japanese officials said yesterday they were committed to nuclear power after the prime minister called for a plant to close, but that the target of obtaining half of Japan’s electricity from nuclear power by 2030 needed a rethink. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called for the closure of a nuclear plant in central Japan, citing [...]
Rise in AIM costs slows as advisers negotiate fees May 8, 2011 THE cost of listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) has dropped as banks and other advisers compete to win contracts, a survey out today shows. AIM listing costs have been surging as companies have been saddled with more regulations to comply with. But the costs rose at the slowest rate in the last year [...]
EU firms need to tap global community for funds May 8, 2011 EVERY six months the presidency of the European Union changes so that each member state has its turn at influencing the European economic and political agenda. At such intervals the Lord Mayor and the Chairman of Policy carry out a “pre-Presidency” visit to discuss with senior politicians and civil servants both their priorities in what [...]
Global firms tap US IPO market May 8, 2011 THE TOTAL value of US stock market listings undertaken by firms from outside of the country has hit its highest level since 2006 so far this year, as companies worldwide look to raise cash on Wall Street. US listed initial public offering (IPO) volume by non US issuers has hit $4bn (£2.4bn) so far this [...]