BEST OF THE BROKERS June 14, 2010 LLOYDS BANKING GROUP Morgan Stanley has given Lloyds Banking Group an “underweight” rating and cut its price target by 23 per cent to 50p. Analysts said it faces a big risk of missing consensus beyond 2010, given pressure on net interest margin, tepid GDP growth and industry funding strains. Barclays is Morgan Stanley’s top pick. [...]
City Moves | who’s switching jobs Edited June 14, 2010 Future Capital Partners The investment boutique has hired Tim West as its new deputy chief executive. West joins from Babcock and Brown, where he was head of the London office and chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Prior to that, he held the position of European chief operating officer for [...]
GROWTH NUMBERS SET TO BE SLASHED June 13, 2010 THERE will be a quiet revolution in British economic policy today when the first official but independent forecasts for growth and public borrowing are published. A new Office for Budget Responsibility, headed by Sir Alan Budd, will unveil its initial forecasts at 10am this morning. It is expected to sharply revise down former chancellor Alistair [...]
BP may cut dividend as spill lingers June 13, 2010 BP DIRECTORS will today meet to discuss whether the oil giant should bow to pressure from the US government and cut its dividend payment at the same time as establishing a separate disaster relief fund. The meeting, which will take place in London, will come ahead of discussions in Washington between chief executive Tony Hayward, [...]
BoE to ignore rating firms June 13, 2010 THE Bank of England will ignore the judgement of ratings agencies if its own independent view suggests the risks to be substantially greater or smaller than the publicly-stated ratings would imply, the central bank says in its quarterly economic bulletin published today. It will only accept securities of a certain quality as collateral and aims [...]
Time for an inquiry into tax system June 13, 2010 THERE are two conflicting trends right now in British economic policy: one is reassuring and invigorating; the other negative and deeply depressing. Both will help determine how successful and prosperous the UK will be over the next few years. I am increasingly optimistic about the immediate, urgent crisis facing Britain – the desperate need to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 13, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph $2.6M BUFFETT LUNCH WON BY ANONYMOUS BIDDER A mystery benefactor has paid $2.6m (£1.8m) to meet with billionaire investor Warren Buffett for a business lunch. The Sage of Omaha auctioned his time in aid of a San Francisco charity. This year’s auction brought in 25 per cent more than any [...]
RBC in talks with UK banks June 13, 2010 Canadian bank RBC is understood to be looking to expand in Europe and is having talks with a view to acquiring a boutique investment bank in London. Co-head of RBC Capital Markets, Doug McGregor, spent last week in the capital meeting potential acquisition targets. The talks are so far only exploratory, but RBC is thought [...]
Private equity back in vogue June 13, 2010 Private equity investors are planning to commit more to the asset class over the next 18 months despite most having seen weak returns from their investments, according to a new study. Nearly two-thirds of investors plan to accelerate new commitments to private equity funds over the remainder of 2010 and 2011, private equity firm Coller [...]
Petrobras to raise $25bn in rights issue June 13, 2010 BRAZILIAN national oil company Petrobras is preparing a $25bn (£17bn) rights issue to raise funds to explore lucrative pre-salt oil fields. The rights issue could take place as early as next month, and would be the world’s biggest so far this year. Petrobras has planned a $220bn (£151bn) investment scheme in the pre-salt fields over [...]
