Geoghegan in new HK base January 27, 2010 HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan yesterday began work in his new principal office in Hong Kong, after officially completing his relocation to the region from London. Geoghegan’s move, which was announced last September, is intended to underpin the bank’s strategy of focusing on the emerging markets of Asia. “This is a key market for HSBC [...]
M&B chair could be ousted at crunch annual meeting January 27, 2010 THE power struggle at Mitchells & Butlers will come to a head later this morning when a bitter annual meeting kicks off. More than 400 investors will gather to decide on new board members in a vote that has been shrouded in controversy. A feud has festered between the board of the pub chain, which [...]
Close Brothers mulls the launch of a sterling bond January 27, 2010 BANKING group Close Brothers is meeting investors to discuss options for a possible sterling bond issue, bankers familiar with the situation said yesterday. The mid-tier investment bank has appointed Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS to manage the investor meetings, they said. Close Brothers declined to comment on the speculation. The group is made [...]
Crédit Agricole investment bank rebrands January 27, 2010 FRENCH bank Crédit Agricole is changing the name of its Calyon business to Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB), in a drive to increase its presence by bringing all its brands under one banner. Crédit Agricole has roped in former James Bond star Sean Connery to front an advertising campaign in France and abroad, [...]
Pets at Home snapped up for nearly £1bn by KKR January 27, 2010 PETS at Home was snapped up by private equity firm KKR yesterday in a deal worth an astonishing £955m. The sum was well above the £800m being touted by analysts in the lead up to the acquisition. KKR beat stiff competition from Apax Partners, Bain and TPG, who had all tabled offers in the second [...]
Rusal off to a slippery start January 27, 2010 RUSAL, the Russian aluminium producer owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, suffered a rough debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday after its $2.2bn (£1.4bn) float. The company’s shares tumbled 11 per cent to HK$9.66 from their listing price of HK$10.80. Analysts attributed the poor performance to market worries over Rusal’s $14.9bn debt pile and [...]
Red dragon breathes IPOs as Bric issues boom in January January 27, 2010 CHINESE companies have dominated this year’s initial public offerings in key emerging markets, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. More than 65 per cent of IPOs in Brazil, India and China in 2010 have come from the far east. China Electric’s $1.5bn (£930m) share issue on 20 January led the way among Chinese companies, [...]
Johnson Matthey trading is better than expected January 27, 2010 JOHNSON Matthey, the speciality chemicals maker, yesterday said that underlying profit in its third quarter was up 20 per cent on last year thanks to reduced costs. The firm, which makes a third of the world’s catalysts for cars, said trading conditions had stabilised with sales excluding precious metals up some nine per cent. Profits [...]
WH Smith is still upbeat in spite of drop in sales January 27, 2010 WH SMITH yesterday reported a four per cent drop in group like-for-like sales as customers bought fewer books. The figures for the 21 weeks to last weekend showed that the retailer’s High Street stores saw a comparative sales fall of five per cent while sales at its travel-based outlets dipped by two per cent. WH [...]
Greene King warns of a difficult year ahead but eyes food market January 27, 2010 GREENE KING may have managed to weather the worst of January’s snow storms, but the integrated pub and brewery giant expects the rest of 2010 to prove even tougher. For the 38 weeks to 24 January 2010, the Suffolk-based pub chain yesterday reported an overall 4.3 per cent growth in sales, despite a three week [...]
