Lloyds first bank to use cheap funds from state programme September 19, 2012 LLOYDS became the first bank to use the government’s new Funding for Lending scheme (FLS) yesterday, drawing down £1bn from the Bank of England. It pledged to lend the money on to businesses and households. However analysts said they do not expect Lloyds’ overall lending to rise, as the bank is still rebalancing in the [...]
Gains ease after market rally prompted by Japan stimulus September 19, 2012 THE BANK of Japan’s (BoJ) decision to push its monetary easing programme above the $1 trillion mark saw global shares rally in early trading, although stocks later pared gains due to ongoing economic worries. The announcement that a further 10 trillion yen (£79bn) will be added to the BoJ’s asset buying and loan programme initially sent [...]
Lonmin secures wage deal but strikes spread September 19, 2012 LONMIN shares spiked nine per cent in opening trade yesterday, as miners at the Marikana mine are due to return to work this morning. Over the six weeks since the strike started on 10 August, Lonmin’s share price has dropped from 753p to 654p. It ended down 0.62 per cent at the close of play [...]
Out of the frying pan into the fire for the miners of platinum September 19, 2012 LONMIN finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place in South Africa. Getting its miners back to work might seem an unmitigated positive, but it runs the risk of returning the price action in the sector – and on the metal it mines – to some very ugly fundamentals. Which may go some [...]
Amec buys stake in Brazilian firm September 19, 2012 ■ International engineering and project management firm Amec has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Brazilian Kromav Engerharia in a $12.5m (£7.7m) deal. Completion is expected later this year. The acquisition of Kromav, a privately-owned offshore oil and gas engineering firm based in Rio de Janeiro, is a strategic move for Amec, which wants [...]
Adobe misses revenue expectations September 19, 2012 ■ Adobe Systems, maker of Photoshop and Acrobat software, last night reported a third quarter that missed revenue expectations due to currency effects. Net income for the third quarter was $201.3m (£123.9m), or 58 cents per share. Adobe said that revenue rose slightly to $1.08bn from a year earlier, but missed Wall Street estimates of [...]
K2 Advisors sells out to Franklin September 19, 2012 ■ K2 Advisors became the latest fund of hedge funds to sell out to a much bigger rival, with a deal announced last night to sell a majority stake to Franklin Resources. Current management of K2 will receive no up-front payment under terms of the deal, Franklin Resources said in a statement. Franklin, which owns [...]
Capital & Counties gets cash to help it expand Covent Garden September 19, 2012 PROPERTY group Capital & Counties (Capco) yesterday raised £149.1m to help fund its ambitious plans for Covent Garden. The firm placed 68.4m shares at 218p per share, or a 1.1 per cent discount to Tuesday’s closing price. Capco said the funds will be used to help fund its £200m plans to snap up more properties [...]
Advisers capco’s £149m share placing September 19, 2012 SIMON MACKENZIE SMITH BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH CAPCO’S push to improve Covent Garden has long been backed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) and UBS. The former has been Capco’s financial adviser since it demerged from Liberty and listed in London and Johannesburg in 2010. BAML also contributes to the Covent Garden estate [...]
Tesco’s Clarke insists US chain is fighting back September 19, 2012 TESCO’S loss-making Fresh & Easy chain in the United States is “fighting nicely” in a tough market, the chief executive of the retailer said yesterday, underlining his belief that the chain can have a profitable future. Tesco boss Philip Clarke has this year rejected investor calls to withdraw from the US, though he told shareholders [...]
