TNK-BP moves to block $1.8bn share payout January 30, 2011 RUSSIAN shareholders in TNK-BP have called an extraordinary board meeting to discuss cancelling a $1.8bn (£1.1bn) dividend payment, half of which would have gone to British partner BP. The latest twist in the feud between BP and the Russian shareholders in the joint venture comes after BP said it had offered its partners in TNK-BP an [...]
Russian firms look to raise cash in City January 30, 2011 RUSSIAN state-owned bank VTB has become the latest business from the country said to be planning a listing in London. The bank is thought to be planning a $3.7bn (£2.3bn) initial public offering (IPO), as a series of firms from the country look to raise cash on the London Stock Exchange. The Russian state stepped [...]
BHP and Rio investors go cool on deals January 30, 2011 INVESTORS have written to BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto to say the miners should ditch ambitions for mega deals in favour of multi-billion pound share buyback schemes or higher dividends. The shareholders have asked for commitments from the group’s boards that they use their strong balance sheets to return cash to investors. The investors are [...]
Less than half of City jobs are in finance January 30, 2011 FINANCIAL companies in the City and Canary Wharf stimulate a vast and varied range of jobs outside the sector, according to official figures seen by City A.M. Less than half (44 per cent) the jobs in London’s main financial districts were in finance and insurance in 2009, with 232,682 other jobs existing in support services [...]
Square Mile to get 15 mins of free Wi-fi a day January 30, 2011 WI-FI hotspot provider The Cloud will launch a program tomorrow offering everyone in the Square Mile 15 minutes of free wi-fi a day. The move is the first major announcement by the firm since it was snapped up by Sky last week for almost £50m. Sky plans to use The Cloud, which has around 22,000 [...]
Corporation renews call for third runway January 30, 2011 URGENTLY needed expansion of London’s aviation capacity should be provided by existing airports such as Heathrow, the City of London Corporation said today. Passenger demand will increase with economic recovery, it said, arguing that time is too short to wait for a new airport in the Thames estuary. Mayor Boris Johnson favours the construction of [...]
April tax hikes will harm rich the most: study January 30, 2011 WEALTHY people will be hardest hit by fresh tax hikes being introduced in April, the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) said today. The richest tenth of the country will lose on average three per cent of their net income because of the changes, while most others will lose just one per cent, the IFS revealed. [...]
New mortgage loans set to dip January 30, 2011 MORTGAGE approvals could have fallen to their lowest level in around two years, according to City economists awaiting the Bank of England’s latest data on bank lending, released tomorrow. Yet the Bank’s figures for December may signal a steady rise in lending to businesses, some analysts said. “We think mortgage approvals slipped to 42,000 in [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: WILL BANK LENDING INCREASE THIS YEAR? January 30, 2011 JAMIE DANNHAUSER | LOMBARD STREET RESEARCH “We expect the availability of bank lending to improve slowly over the course of 2011. Bank balance sheets, particularly capital levels, are looking much healthier than two years ago.” ALISTAIR MILNE | CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL “Banks need to regain the lost skills of identifying good business lending opportunities. But [...]
London’s top homes regain some value January 30, 2011 THE TOP end of the London property market made a broadly strong start to 2011, with the most expensive 25 per cent of houses adding an average of 0.2 per cent in value in the last month, according to research seen by City A.M. A tightening supply has helped push prices up, with 15 per [...]
