Labour can’t solve cost of living crisis February 28, 2011 ONCE again, Labour is outmanoeuvring Britain’s increasingly hapless coalition. Ed Miliband’s chutzpah will be on full display this week: he will point out that the public is facing a cost of living crisis, while wrongly pinning all the blame for it on the coalition. Miliband is right to flag up the issue. An explosion of [...]
Christchurch faces rebuild February 28, 2011 HIGH-rise buildings destroyed by the massive earthquake that struck Christchurch in New Zealand are likely to be rebuilt on the outskirts of the central business district to protect against further devastation. Business leaders say the city centre may have to be completely rebuilt, but it would not make sense to reconstruct it on the same [...]
What the other papers say this morning February 28, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES NORTHERN ROCK TO OFFER 90 PER CENT MORTGAGES Northern Rock is poised to launch a range of mortgages offering up to 90 per cent of a property’s value, marking the nationalised bank’s return to riskier lending three years after its collapse and government bail-out. The lossmaking lender could make the new high loan-to-value [...]
US tax probe set to widen February 27, 2011 The US tax probe that resulted in high-profile charges for a handful of Swiss bankers is expected to widen to include banks from Asia and Israel. It is understood the US authorities believe some clients shifted cash to banks in other jurisdictions instead of reporting them to the US. Meanwhile, there are fears that Credit [...]
UK property backers pulling out February 27, 2011 More than a third of lenders who backed UK property have pulled out since 2007, according to a new report from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). The property consultancy says there are 107 senior lenders with a commercial real estate loan book in the UK, but only 69 are still actively lending. The growing shortage of [...]
Fears over oil price persist on Libya crisis February 27, 2011 OIL prices continued to rise in Asian trading today, pushing Brent crude for April delivery up $1.51 to $113.65 a barrel. US crude for April delivery gained $1.47 to $99.35 a barrel as fears over escalating violence in Libya continued to drive prices up. Many of Libya’s major oil production facilities remained off-line or were [...]
JP Morgan eyes stake in Twitter February 27, 2011 JP MORGAN could take a ten per cent stake in Twitter in a deal that would value the microblogging site at a staggering $4.7bn. The bank’s Digital Growth Fund is hoping to invest $450m in the site, according the Financial Times. The Twitter stake, which has not been finalised, would account for around a third [...]
Flotations raise $26bn in strong start to year February 27, 2011 COMPANIES have raised more than $26bn (£16bn) through IPOs so far this year, to make it the best start to the year on record, says Dealogic. According to the data group, there is also a global backlog of $48bn in deals, which looks set to make 2011 a record-breaking year. The early flurry, which has [...]
Glencore hires eight banks to handle its IPO February 27, 2011 COMMODITIES giant Glencore has taken on five additional banks to help it prepare for its possible float, sources yesterday told City A.M. Swiss-based Glencore now has eight banks working on its IPO plan, which analysts have said will value the firm at up to $60bn (£37.3bn). While Glencore has not officially confirmed that it will [...]
E.ON is close to selling its UK power grid arm February 27, 2011 CHINESE billionaire Li Ka-shing is close to winning control of E.ON’s UK distribution business after a bid of more than £3.5bn, City A.M. can confirm. Li’s investment group Cheung Kong Infrastructure is thought to have outbid PPL Corporation, the power producer that bought E.ON’s US business last November for $7.6bn (£4.7bn). Li’s offer is thought [...]
