Ventas tie up with Nationwide Health will be largest healthcare REIT in US February 28, 2011 VENTAS has said it will buy Nationwide Health Properties for about $7.4bn in stock, creating the largest healthcare real estate investment trust in the US. Under the terms of the deal, Nationwide Health shareholders will get 0.7866 Ventas shares for each NHP share held. Ventas, which has been on a shopping spree since October last [...]
Swedish Riksbank more hawkish February 28, 2011 Despite soft retail and price data, interest rates in Sweden are expected to rise further in coming months, after minutes of the February Riksbank meeting revealed an increasingly hawkish tone.
Minor recovery for house prices February 28, 2011 House prices in England and Wales recovered slightly in January, edging up 0.2 per cent on the previous month. December and November had seen substantial collapses in prices, by 0.8 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively. The 0.2 per cent rise in January still meant that house prices were 0.9 per cent lower than [...]
CONSIDER HALTING QE2, SAYS FED’S BULLARD February 28, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve should halt its second phase of quantitative easing (QE2) if the recovery proves strong enough, senior official James Bullard said yesterday. “My colleagues are enamoured with big numbers and I don’t like that,” he said, referring to the $600bn (£369.2bn) bond buying programme set to run to the middle of this [...]
Catastrophes send Hiscox’s profit reeling February 28, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Hiscox yesterday attributed a 34 per cent fall in its 2010 pre-tax profit to devastating earthquakes in Chile and New Zealand. Full-year profit slid to £211.4m from £320.6m in 2009 as disaster claims rose to £165m in the year. “Mother Nature has well and truly tested us this year,” chairman Robert Hiscox said. [...]
Insurer QBE faces $175m NZ quake lossa February 28, 2011 AUSTRALIA’S biggest insurer, QBE Insurance, said yesterday its profits slipped 17 per cent in 2010 after a spate of catastrophes hit the region. Net profit slipped to $1.28bn (£787m) from $1.53bn in 2009, despite premium income growth of 21 per cent to $13.6bn from $11.2bn in 2009, following floods that devastated Australia as well as [...]
Bloomsbury predicts year of the e-book February 28, 2011 PUBLISHER Bloomsbury yesterday heralded the year of the e-book as it unveiled an 18 per cent increase in electronic sales. The firm reported overall revenues of £90.7m, up four per cent year-on-year, while profits excluding one-off items rose to £8.4m from £7.7m. E-book sales now account for 10 per cent of Bloomsbury sales. Nigel Newton [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU READ E-BOOKS? February 28, 2011 ANDREW WIFFEN | BGC “No. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to read, it’s that you don’t have time outside work for it.” GARY BROUGHTON | PREQIN “Occasionally. I find them convenient as I can read three or four books at a time.” PETER WHEALY | INTUITION “Yes, I have a Kindle but I’m not [...]
Pearson boss warns Apple February 28, 2011 Pearson chief executive Marjorie Scardino yesterday expressed her discomfort at the Libyan government being a major shareholder in the firm. She also hit out at Apple, warning Pearson could leave its platform if it refuses to share user data and demands a 30 per cent cut of subscription revenues. Scardino said she expected sales, margin [...]
Skrill hires bankers for its planned $250m initial public offering in April February 28, 2011 ONLINE payments provider Skrill plans to raise around $250m (£154m) from a London listing in April. It hopes to boost the group’s profile and help fund its expansion into new products and locations. It has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Jefferies and Morgan Stanley to advise it of its flotation on the London Stock [...]
