Jimmy Choo eyes Hong Kong IPO April 27, 2011 Luxury shoe group Jimmy Choo and its private owner TowerBrook Capital are considering an initial public offering of up to £650m, with the listing likely to be in Hong Kong. The news comes as three bidders – private equity group TPG Capital, US retailer Jones and a consortium of Investcorp and Labelux – compete for [...]
Carnival suing BP over oil spill April 27, 2011 Cruise company Carnival is suing BP and Transocean over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill a year ago. The cruise operator is seeking unspecified damages with interest, punitive damages and the cost of litigation. The lawsuit, filed in the US, cites negligence by all operators of the Deepwater Horizon Rig, including Cameron, BP, Transocean, and [...]
Lehman strikes NY settlement April 27, 2011 Cash-strapped New York state would receive about $144m from Lehman Brothers Holdings under a proposed settlement resolving tax claims against the defunct financial giant. The payment of corporate back tax and interest would settle claims that initially sought $1.17bn.
Starbucks and eBay triumph as profits rise April 27, 2011 CONSUMER powerhouses eBay and Starbucks both reported a sharp rise in profits last night, indicating the economic recovery was gathering speed. eBay saw first-quarter revenue rise 15.9 per cent to $2.5bn on the same period last year, fuelled by a 23 per cent revenue boost at PayPal and a 12 per cent increase at its [...]
Bank likely to hold rates after growth figures April 27, 2011 HOMEOWNERS will be breathing a sigh of relief after economists said the Bank of England would delay any plans for an interest rate rise due to yesterday’s anaemic growth figures. Markets expectations for a rate rise have already been pushed towards well into the summer, and they are likely to move back further after the [...]
Barclays fails to live up to expectations April 27, 2011 BARCLAYS yesterday unveiled a disappointing set of results, prompting its shares to dip 3.26 per cent as investors lost faith in chief executive Bob Diamond’s (pictured) ability to deliver on an ambitious 13-15 per cent returns target. Pre-tax profit dropped to £1.66bn, nine per cent down on the first-quarter of 2010, with the corporate and [...]
Protium: Picking a solution out of thin air April 27, 2011 THE toxic assets that make up Barclays’ so-called Protium portfolio are aptly-named. Protium is the most common isotope of hydrogen gas, and the bank was plucking a solution out of thin air when it used a barely-disguised accounting trick to push $9.8bn of toxic assets off its balance sheet. Little wonder the manoeuvre has failed: [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BOB DIAMOND SO FAR? April 27, 2011 Save or Borrow peer to peer at RateSetter.com www.RateSetter.com Customer Phoneline: 08442490115 GRACE UBA | SHAREHOLDER “Our shares are not going anywhere. It’s rubbish. But when they ask us for more money they expect us to give it.” JOANNA BOOTH | SHAREHOLDER “I am pleasantly surprised by Bob Diamond. He seems to be driving forward [...]
UK economy grew by 0.5pc in 1st quarter April 27, 2011 THE UK economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the first-quarter, avoiding a double-dip recession and recovering from a 0.5 per cent contraction in the final three months of 2010. The headline figures suggest the economy has flatlined over the last six months, although economists were sceptical about the reliability of early official statistics, which [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: IS GROWTH AS WEAK AS THE ONS SAYS? April 27, 2011 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITI Overall, the economy has shown underlying growth in the last two quarters, once erratic swings in construction are stripped out. This is not so bad given the heavy headwinds from fiscal tightening and high inflation. SIMON WARD | HENDERSON This may seem modest but early GDP numbers during recoveries have historically [...]
