Hammerson outmanoeuvres Westfield in Croydon battle September 18, 2012 REAL estate developer Hammerson yesterday stepped up its battle with rival Westfield over the ownership of Croydon town centre after snapping up a stake in the leasehold of the area’s main shopping centre. The FTSE 100 listed firm said it had acquired a 25 per cent stake in the leasehold of the Whitgift Centre, a [...]
StanChart calls on investors to focus on profits September 18, 2012 STANDARD Chartered yesterday tried to move markets on from last month’s sanction-breaking fine, instead calling on investors to focus on the bank’s underlying earnings. The bank’s share price plummeted by almost a quarter in August when a US regulator accused it of breaking the rules in $250bn (£153.8bn) of transactions with Iran – an accusation [...]
Treasury official regrets slow Northern Rock nationalisation September 18, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT would have lost less money on the nationalisation and subsequent sale of Northern Rock if it had acted sooner, a top Treasury official told MPs yesterday. “With the benefit of hindsight, the Treasury was slow off the mark in terms of addressing the problem,” permanent secretary Sir Nicholas Macpherson told the Public Accounts [...]
Bankers think Libor fixing was pervasive September 18, 2012 MOST bankers believe Libor manipulation was widespread in the industry, with weak regulation and short-term pay incentives being blamed for encouraging the bad practice, according to a survey published yesterday by research and consulting firm Lepus. Over half called Libor-rigging “pervasive” in banking, with risk management and back office staff most likely to see the [...]
JP Morgan warns QE3 could hit, not help, the US economy September 18, 2012 INTEREST rates could rise rather than fall as a result of the latest round of money printing announced by the Federal Reserve last week, analysts at JP Morgan warned yesterday. The potentially unlimited asset purchases under the latest quantitative easing programme (QE3) could increase inflation, pushing up yields and so hurt the economy rather than [...]
UBS expects Swiss deposit fall September 18, 2012 SWISS banks are set to see European clients withdraw “hundreds of billions of francs” as a result of steps to stop foreigners using secret accounts to evade taxes, a top banker at UBS warned yesterday. Juerg Zeltner, head of UBS wealth management estimates the country’s biggest bank alone could see outflows of SFr12bn (£8bn) to [...]
CWC opens talks with Batelco over $1bn sale of its Monaco & Islands operations September 18, 2012 CABLE & Wireless Communications (CWC) is in talks to sell several of its operations worldwide in a deal valued at around $1bn (£620m), the firm confirmed yesterday. The London-based company has received an approach from Bahrain Telecommunications Company (Batelco) for its operations in Monaco and a number of island nations including the Falkland Islands, the [...]
Greggs signs up to supply army with its pasties September 18, 2012 THE ADAGE that an army marches on its stomach was given new meaning by yesterday’s announcement that Greggs the bakery chain will be supplying the British armed forces with a selection of its Cornish pasties, sausage rolls and steak bakes. The FTSE 250 firm has signed a trial deal with forces caterer NAAFI to supply [...]
British Land investment plans worth £1.2bn to UK economy September 18, 2012 BUILDING work British Land is carrying out over the next few years will contribute billions of pounds of output to the UK economy, and support thousands of jobs, a report said yesterday. British Land’s construction programme will contribute £1.2bn to UK GDP between 2011 and 2015, according to the report from PwC, while creating some [...]
Merkel and IMF show sympathy with Greek woe September 18, 2012 GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday expressed pity for the plight of recession-struck Greece, announcing her “heart bleeds” for its people. And the International Monetary Fund revealed it is looking for ways to lessen the social problems caused by strict fiscal programmes that it puts countries like Greece through when it steps in to repair their [...]
