Fed comes to rescue July 31, 2008 The Federal Reserve extended its emergency lending program yesterday in an effort to settle turbulent money markets, as the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank followed suit. The Fed said that the length of the program, under which investment institutions can turn to the central bank for cash, would be extended until January 30. [...]
Lloyds TSB profit decline rocks the City July 31, 2008 Lloyds TSB shocked the City yesterday as it raised its dividend 2 per cent to 11.4p, despite posting a 70 per cent slump in profits. Pre-tax profits at the high street bank dipped to £599m, compared to £1.99bn last year, reflecting the impact of £585m of write-downs from the bank’s insurance business. And the bank’s [...]
Windfall bonus for 1m Norwich Union policyholders as firm sees profits surge July 31, 2008 Claire Spottiswoode delivered on months of marathon negotiations yesterday after 1m Norwich Union policyholders will be offered pay outs of around £1000 each. Aviva, the group’s parent company, is offering cash to qualifying customers in two of its with-profits funds, in exchange for buying out their right for any future pay-outs or redistribution of money. [...]
Woolworths profits hit by retail slump July 30, 2008 Sweets-to-DVDs retailer Woolworths issued a profit warning yesterday, blaming a marked downturn in trading conditions, as it scrapped plans to sell out of DVD publisher 2 Entertain, sending its shares to a new low. The 100-year-old group, which last month agreed to part company with chief executive Trevor Bish-Jones, said it planned to rebuild its [...]
St James’s Place stands by its targets July 30, 2008 Wealth manager St James’s Place reported a 5.3 per cent fall in its first half profits, but chairman Mike Wilson said it was standing by its key long term sales growth targets, despite volatile market conditions. Group operating profits at the wealth manager, which sells insurance and investment policies to affluent clients, fell to £114.2m [...]
Few bright spots in a dark day for Sony July 30, 2008 There were few glimmers of hope for Sony yesterday, after it revealed that first quarter net profit had plummeted by 47.4 per cent to ¥34.98bn (£207m). Nearly every area of the Japanese giant’s business, from music sales to electronics, posted worse than expected performances. Although sales volumes in electronics were up, reduced margins and an [...]
Informa receives second full takeover approach July 30, 2008 Informa shares spiked after the publisher and events organiser revealed it had received an approach from another potential suitor. Informa said it is still in discussions with a Providence Equityled consortium, but it has also now provided information to the new bidder. It stressed the approach was preliminary only. Buyout firms Providence Equity, The Carlyle [...]
Merrill soars on bet worst could be over July 30, 2008 Shares in embattled US banking titan Merrill Lynch jumped nearly 8 per cent yesterday after the bank agreed to sell a massive debt portfolio at a discount, raising investor hopes it was putting its problems behind it. CEO John Thain has gone back to shareholders to boost the bank’s capital reserves, despite repeated assurances to [...]
Abbey grabs lending lead July 30, 2008 Abbey is poised to topple Halifax as the UK’s top lender of new mortgages after revealing first half results today that showed the Spanish-owned bank now writes one in three new mortgages in Britain. As rival lenders withdrew mortgage deals from the perilous credit market, Abbey’s share of new lending rocketed to 35 per cent [...]
Trade talks end with no agreement July 30, 2008 World Trade talks in Doha collapsed yesterday, after the US, China and India failed to agree a compromise on the kind of import tariffs poorer countries could raise on farm products. According to a spokesman for European trade commissioner Peter Mandleson, the failure of the talks was a “massive blow to confidence in the global [...]
