ICESAVE REFERENDUM SET FOR 9 APRIL February 28, 2011 Iceland will hold a referendum on 9 April to vote on a repayment plan for around £3bn owed to the UK and the Netherlands, the country’s government confirmed yesterday. President Olafur Grimsson (left) triggered the vote last week after vetoing a revised scheme to repay cash after the collapse of internet bank Icesave.
Top earners’ pay revealed February 28, 2011 HSBC yesterday became the first UK bank to disclose details of what it pays top earners, as part of the Merlin agreement and a pre-emption of FSA and EU transparency rules. Around 280 senior staff at the bank were paid a total of $472m (£293m) in 2010, according to the bank’s figures, meaning an average [...]
Stuart Gulliver is not a man in a hurry February 28, 2011 STUART Gulliver has made no secret of his long-held desire to win the top job. Having coveted the prize for so many years, he might have imagined taking over in more propitious circumstances; no-one dreams about their first set of results knocking £4bn off the market cap. But during his three decades of service, Gulliver [...]
HSBC predicts lower profits despite boom February 28, 2011 HSBC yesterday blamed new global regulations for its decision to slash its expectations for future profit. Despite booking pre-tax profits of $19bn (£11.8bn) last year, more than double the amount it made in 2009, the bank said the cost of complying with tough new Basel III regulations, designed to make the financial sector safer, would [...]
Lloyds stays at the top of bank complaints list February 28, 2011 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP was the most complained-about financial firm during the last six months of last year, after more than 22,000 customers registered a grievance with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). Lloyds, the UK’s biggest bank by customers, was the subject of almost a quarter of the 97,237 new cases lodged with the ombudsman. The [...]
AB Foods hit by slowdown at Primark February 28, 2011 A SLOWDOWN at Primark’s British stores hit the shares of owner Associated British Foods (ABF) yesterday as tax rises and inflation squeezed consumer spending. The budget retailer’s like-for-like sales growth slowed to three per cent in its first half. Primark has been a star performer for the company but with materials like cotton spiralling in [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN AB FOODS CONTINUE TO GROW AS COSTS SHOOT UP? February 28, 2011 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL ABF has revealed more divisions reporting either slowing sales growth or margin pressure than we had anticipated. Such challenges are likely, to our minds, to compress the upward momentum of the shares in the near term. We reiterate our ‘hold’ recommendation. GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE The shares have come off [...]
Tesco China mall deal marks Sir Terry’s swansong February 28, 2011 TESCO chief executive Sir Terry Leahy bid farewell yesterday as the chain continued its march into China with a joint venture deal on three malls. Leahy took the helm of the company in 1992 and has steered it towards significant international growth, particularly in the rapidly expanding Asian market. His long planned retirement ushers in [...]
Equinox plans copper giant with £3bn bid February 28, 2011 COPPER miner Equinox has made a C$4.8bn (£3.04bn) hostile bid for Lundin Mining, in a move that could create one of the biggest copper-focused miners in the world. Equinox, which is listed in Australia and Toronto, is hoping to break up a nil-premium merger between Lundin and Inmet Mining to ramp up its own exposure [...]
Chinese business group launched February 28, 2011 With 400 Chinese-owned companies operating in London and the south east, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry yesterday launched a Chinese Business Association, with the backing of Mayor Boris Johnson. Excluding small restaurants, over a fifth of Chinese companies in the capital and south east offer professional services, with almost five per cent in [...]
