Oil prices jump 2pc after optimism raises demand June 14, 2010 OIL prices rose more than two per cent yesterday, jumping above $75 (£62) per barrel, as optimism about global economic recovery boosted fuel demand expectations and sent stock markets and the euro higher. “Follow-through strength in most global equity markets from last week and highest level in the euro in more than a week are [...]
Claridge’s owner in talks with Deutsche Bank to refinance £610m of borrowings June 14, 2010 THE owner of some of London’s most luxurious hotels is in talks to refinance £610m of debt, it was confirmed yesterday. Maybourne Hotel Group, owner of the Claridge’s, Connaught and Berkeley hotels in London, is in talks with Deutsche Bank about a refinancing that needs to take place by the end of the year. The [...]
Santander enters £2bn final bid for RBS branches June 14, 2010 SPANISH bank Santander has entered a final offer for the network of 318 UK branches being sold by the Royal Bank of Scotland, sources said. Santander, understood to be the last remaining bidder for the assets being offloaded after RBS was bailed out by the taxpayer, has put between £1.5bn and £2bn on the table. [...]
SHOULD INVESTORS BE TOASTING TODAY’S RESULTS FROM MAJESTIC WINE? June 14, 2010 GREG FEEHELY | ALTIUM SECURITIES “Majestic Wine has a strong balance sheet and has more than adequate flexibility to take advantage of increased opportunities for new sites appearing on the market. While we are not changing our numbers today, forecast risk remains on the upside with potential benefits from the World Cup.” JOHN DICKINSON | [...]
Paulson hires ex-SEC officials June 14, 2010 Hedge fund guru John Paulson has appointed a pair of former top dogs at the Securities and Exchange Commission to the board of Paulson & Co, just a few months after the firm was entangled in the commission’s fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. Paulson, who is not accused of any wrongdoing in the case, named [...]
EDF’s UK network sale hits snag June 14, 2010 French utility EDF’s long-running sale of its £4bn UK electricity networks hit a snag yesterday when a bidder said it would need to spend “a lot more” than originally planned upgrading the networks. Hongkong Electric and sister company Cheung Kong Infrastructure had been vying for the assets with two consortiums – Scottish & Southern Energy, [...]
HSBC appoints Booker as US chief June 14, 2010 HSBC has promoted its North American deputy chief to chief executive of the region, from the beginning of August. Niall Booker, who also joins the group management board, originally started at HSBC in 1981 and has previously worked for the bank in the Middle East and India.
Goldwind IPO in Hong Kong is cancelled June 14, 2010 CHINA’S second-largest wind turbine maker, Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology, has pulled its up-to-$1.2bn (£814m) initial public offering, the fifth Hong Kong IPO shelved since last month. With around $3.8bn in public offerings pulled from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the last few weeks, the dead deals reveal the impact of the sharp drop [...]
Fortunes can be made in times of austerity June 14, 2010 PEOPLE who come from poorer backgrounds with little money have a huge advantage in creating something of value: the only way is up. That was the assessment of John O’Connell, the founder of Britain’s Staffware and one of Ariadne Capital’s founding shareholders, when he spoke at a Fredericks Foundation conference recently. He said, half jokingly, [...]
RBC looks for City targets June 14, 2010 Royal Bank of Canada said it would consider buying a London-based boutique investment bank to speed its expansion efforts, after unveiling plans yesterday to hire 75 more staff across Europe. RBC Capital Markets said it had already hired over 560 people since the start of its financial year in November, including 140 in Europe. Canada’s [...]
