US home sales edge upwards February 2, 2010 Pending sales of previously owned US homes edged up as expected in December, a survey showed yesterday, which should help to calm fears of renewed weakness in the troubled housing sector. But the housing recovery remains slow and painful, with other data showing the percentage of empty privately owned homes rose to 2.7 per cent [...]
Gulf Finance House hit by S&P February 2, 2010 Gulf Finance House (GFH) said yesterday it is seeking to defer payment of a third of a $300m loan due next week as credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s slapped it with its third downgrade in 10 weeks. “Gulf Finance House … confirms that it has been in discussions with members of the WestLB syndicate [...]
SEC charges ex hedge fund boss February 2, 2010 Former Wall Street hedge fund manager David Slaine made more than $500,000 from insider trading tips in 2002 by a former UBS Securities executive who is now in prison, the US Securities and Exchange Commission said yesterday. Slaine, 50, formerly of DSJ International Resources, or Chelsey Capital of New York, used the confidential information to [...]
Credit Suisse bosses escape levy February 2, 2010 Senior Credit Suisse executives in London including chief executive officer James Leigh-Pemberton are set for multi-million pound payouts not subject to the UK bonus tax. A small number of bankers will receive windfalls under the bank’s performance incentive plan, put in place to retain key staff in 2004, which vests in March. Credit Suisse will [...]
SHANKS LOWERS PROFIT GUIDANCE February 2, 2010 Waste management firm Shanks said talks over a possible cash offer for the company, thought to be from US private equity firm Carlyle Group, were continuing as it warned its full-year profit would be slightly below previous expectations yesterday. Shanks said trading had been satisfactory but the outcome for the full-year would be impacted by [...]
GILT DEMAND AT AN EIGHT-YEAR HIGH February 2, 2010 The government’s first bond auction since its £200bn quantitative easing programme began to wind down drew the highest bid-to-cover ratio in eight years yesterday. The Debt Management Office said the 2012 bond sale experienced the highest demand at a gilt auction since March 2002, an appetite that surpassed analysts’ expectations. Observers said the take-up was [...]
CREDIT RECOVERY BOOSTS METLIFE February 2, 2010 MetLife’s fourth-quarter earnings fell 70 per cent because of investment losses, but its operating profit beat Wall Street expectations by a penny yesterday as the credit market recovery boosted revenue at the biggest US life insurer. MetLife’s quarterly operating profit was five times higher than last year, at $793m (£496m), or 96 cents per share.
Brokers stuck in limbo over the bonus tax February 2, 2010 UK TAX authorities have demanded access to fresh information about the risk profiles of the City’s independent stockbrokers to determine if they will be hit by the government’s Bank Payroll Tax (BPT), City A.M. has learned. Brokers are still in limbo as they await a decision on the tax, two months after it was first [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES REFORMS TO MAKE BANKING “SOCIALLY USEFUL” David Davis, chair of the independent banking inquiry, has promised to give consumers a strong voice as he prepares a report intended to produce a “socially useful” financial sector. As chair of the Future of Banking Commission, the senior Conservative MP will lead what he claims will [...]
Dubai World puts Inchcape on the block February 2, 2010 INCHCAPE Shipping Services is the first company put up for sale by Dubai World, the troubled Middle Eastern conglomerate, as it tries to restructure its $22bn (£13.8bn) debt pile. The maritime firm is expected to sell for up to $700m and is thought to have drawn interest from buyout groups Advent, Cinven, Charterhouse, Montagu, TPG [...]
