Bond spreads narrow as investors react October 27, 2011 TEN-YEAR yields on German government bonds jumped by the most in almost three months yesterday and spreads across the Eurozone narrowed, as investors reacted to politicians’ plans by shifting their risk exposure. German bunds became a less attractive safe haven after the country’s parliament backed an increase to the European Financial Stability Facility, to which [...]
Santander vows to beat capital target October 27, 2011 GRUPO Santander saw its quarterly pre-tax profits rise by nine per cent yesterday, despite failing to significantly reduce its impairments. The bank’s shares were also boosted by its assurance that it will overshoot European authorities’ nine per cent capital ratio target by 100 basis points “without the need to issue new capital” while also paying [...]
Lazard shares soar despite profit fall on market turmoil October 27, 2011 ELITE US investment bank Lazard pleased investors with a 24 per cent surge in revenue gained from advising on M&A in the third quarter. Lazard shares bounced as much as 18 per cent after it posted the better than expected rise in advisory revenues to $199.1m (£124.5m). Despite the gain, Lazard’s third-quarter pre-tax profits fell [...]
Canon Chancellor quits St Paul’s over threat to force out activists October 27, 2011 THE CANON Chancellor of St Paul’s has quit the cathedral, saying he did not want to see “violence” used to clear the protesters’ camp. Reverend Dr Giles Fraser (right) said his conscience meant he could not support St Paul’s if it joined with the City of London Corporation to evict the Occupy LSX activists. He [...]
Moody’s expects bond market growth as gains beat forecasts October 27, 2011 MOODY’S chief executive Raymond McDaniel has said the corporate bond rating business looks poised to rebound when credit markets stabilise, after reporting a third-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates. McDaniel said the pipeline of corporations waiting to issue new bonds is “pretty strong”, but warned it was hard to predict when it may happen. [...]
Shadow bank sector faces clampdown October 27, 2011 THE WORLD’S finance watchdog yesterday outlined plans to clamp down on the poorly-regulated $60 trillion (£37.5 trillion) “shadow banking” system, to reduce the risks it poses to mainstream banks worldwide. The Financial Stability Board, a global banking regulator, said it would add new regulation next year to make it harder and more expensive for banks [...]
John Lovering returns to fashion chain Peacocks October 27, 2011 RETAIL veteran John Lovering has returned to the board of the investment group that owns Peacocks, the struggling fashion chain he chaired for six years until 2003, City A.M can reveal. Last month the British high street retailer, which sells discount fashion lines, called in KPMG to conduct an independent business review as fears grow [...]
FSA wants new rules on pricey account extras October 27, 2011 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority has said it wants to clamp down on the way banks and building societies sell insurance on packaged accounts which can turn out to be “useless”. The regulator wants to prevent another mis-selling scandal by forcing lenders to check whether a customer is eligible to claim under each policy and then [...]
Shell gloomy on EU growth as profits rise October 27, 2011 ROYAL Dutch Shell is more worried about Europe’s competitiveness than the macroeconomic effects of the sovereign debt crisis, the oil giant said yesterday, warning that it is likely to keep reducing its support of projects the region. Chief financial officer Simon Henry said Shell’s investment in European projects had been cut to only 15 per [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WERE SHELL’S RESULTS ON TRACK? October 27, 2011 RICHARD GRIFFITH | EVOLUTION SECURITIES Dare we say it but things appear to be going very smoothly for Shell. Key projects are ramping up on time, there appears to be no operation reliability issues and it is making play opening exploration discoveries. It is in a sweet spot and should continue to get stronger as [...]
