Ferrie ends long wait for a title September 25, 2011 Kenneth Ferrie won the Austrian Open in Atzenbrugg after a play-off with fellow Englishman Simon Wakefield. It was the 32-year-old’s first European Tour title since winning at the Smurfit European Open in 2005. Both Ferrie and Wakefield ended on 12 under, both of them carding five-under 67s on the final day.
Haas enjoys bumper $10m payday September 25, 2011 America’s Bill Haas claimed the season-ending Tour Championship along with the with FedExCup honors and a $10m bonus after a thrilling sudden-death play-off against compatriot Hunter Mahan. The pair finished the 72 regulation holes on eight-under-par 272, while British world No1 Luke Donald birdied three of the last five holes for a 69 to finish [...]
THE BREAKDOWN | WORLD CUP BRIEFS September 25, 2011 SAMOA STILL IN THE HUNT TUSI PISI helped Samoa keep alive their quarter-final hopes as they overcame Fiji 27-7 at Eden Park. Samoa must beat South Africa in their final pool match – or hope Fiji can do them a favourite against Wales – if they are to reach the last eight. Pisi landed four [...]
RBS warns of new Eurozone recession September 23, 2011 Royal Bank of Scotland economists have forecast the Eurozone will slip back into recession. They said in a note they expect a contraction of 0.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2011, doubling to 0.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2012. Fears of a Greek default are a factor in the gloomy [...]
AXA ‘selling private equity unit’ September 23, 2011 French insurer AXA is putting its private equity unit up for sale, Sky News reported. The unit could be worth around £1bn, according to the broadcaster. AXA declined to comment.
FTSE closes narrowly up after fight back from banks September 23, 2011 A strong rebound in banking stocks saw the FTSE end higher on Friday after a turbulent week, with investors pinning hopes on more action from the European Central Bank to deal with the region’s debt crisis. As traders cited market talk of help from France with some form of capital injection to bolster French banks’ [...]
Mortgage approvals at 15-month high September 23, 2011 Mortgage approvals in August were at their highest since May 2010, according to the British Banking Association’s monthly report on High Street Banking. The number of mortgages sold was 14 per cent higher than the same month last year, with an average value of £145,500, an increase of 1% year-on-year. The report suggests the figures [...]
Moody’s downgrades eight Greek banks September 23, 2011 Moodys have downgraded eight Greek banks by two notches. The ratings agency downgraded National Bank of Greece, EFG Eurobank Ergasias, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, Agricultural Bank of Greece and Attica Bank to CAA2 from B3. It also downgraded Emporiki Bank of Greece – which is majority owned by French bank Credit Agricole – and General [...]
Centrica buys Texas energy retailer in $270m deal September 23, 2011 British utility Centrica agreed to buy Texas-based energy retailer First Choice Power from smaller US peer PNM Resources for $270m (£175m) in cash, as the UK firm looks to expand and strengthen its North American customer base. Irving, Texas-based First Choice Power, a wholly owned unit of PNM Resources, has more than 220,000 residential and [...]
Banks lead tentative FTSE recovery September 23, 2011 European markets made a tentative recovery this morning after world economic leaders promises to pile in liquidity if the dire state of equities did not pick up. There was carnage on global markets yesterday with commodities and shares driven down by fears over the Eurozone crisis and the spluttering US economy. Commodities also took a [...]
