Firms’ confidence about the future rises to 13-month high August 20, 2009 BRITISH businesses are more confident about their trading than they have been for 13 months, according to a monthly survey published today. The Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Business Barometer shows that a balance of 30 per cent of businesses questioned in July expected their business activity to rise over the next year, compared to 17 [...]
Lending sees improvement August 20, 2009 GROSS mortgage lending rose 26 per cent in July on the previous month but remains 36 per cent down on 2008, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said yesterday. In the latest sign of a relative improvement for the UK housing market, the CML figures showed that gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £16bn last [...]
Murdoch’s London Paper closes its doors for now August 20, 2009 NEWS International’s decision to close the London Paper will come as a huge blow to its 60 staff, who will now enter a month-long consultation. They have worked hard to create a product which has been a massive success in many ways. Its revolutionary design, for example, has been critically acclaimed and the paper has [...]
C&R shares take a hit August 20, 2009 SHOPPING mall and leisure centre operator Capital & Regional yesterday announced plans to raise £60.2m in a deeply discounted share placing, sending its shares plummeting. The group said South African peer Parkdev had agreed to invest £23.2m for a 25 per cent stake in the company. The remaining £45.7m will be raised in an underwritten [...]
Advent appoints ex-Boots chief August 20, 2009 Private equity firm Advent International yesterday appointed Richard Baker, former Alliance Boots chief executive as an operating partner. Baker has been acting as an adviser to the group since the beginning of the year. Baker led the merger of Boots and Alliance Unichem as well as steering the sale of the firm to Stefano Pessina [...]
Redrow in board reshuffle August 20, 2009 Housebuilder Redrow has launched a boardroom shake-up by naming a new deputy chairman and two non-executive directors. The reshuffle comes after the firm was taken back under the control of original founder Steve Morgan. Alan Jackson, who is already a director of several non-public firms and sits on the board of The Restaurant Group, has [...]
Ireland sets to value bad bank August 20, 2009 The Irish government has issued a tender seeking a derivatives valuer for its “bad bank”, following invitations for firms to assess the loans and real estate collateral it will acquire. The publication of the tenders is one of the clearest signs yet that Dublin is moving closer to launching the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) [...]
Silverfleet buys sausage maker August 20, 2009 Private equity firm Silverfleet Capital has agreed to buy German sausage casings maker Kalle, former owner Montagu Capital said yesterday. The €212.5m (£183.3m) deal, one of the largest private equity acquisitions of the year, is backed by a syndicated loan arranged by Bank of Ireland. Kalle is one of the five biggest artificial sausage-skin makers [...]
Obama trims US deficit outlook August 20, 2009 A stabilising US financial sector has freed President Barack Obama to trim 2009 budget deficit projections. The White House budget office will lower its deficit forecast next week for the current fiscal year to $1.58 trillion (£95bn) from $1.84 trillion after removing $250bn set aside for bank bailouts, officials said. The decision shows the administration [...]
IP Group falls to a loss August 20, 2009 Intellectual property marketing firm IP Group said yesterday that it had slipped to a first-half pre-tax loss of £4.9m, compared to £15.8m a year earlier, as the economic crisis hit its portfolio performance. IP, which takes university research and turns it into commercial outfits, reported a 26 per cent fall in net assets and said [...]
