Invensys backs Schneider bid July 31, 2013 INVENSYS has agreed to be taken over by French engineering group Schneider Electric in a £3.4bn cash and shares deal, laying to rest expectations of a bidding war. The FTSE 250-listed firm’s board has approved the offer. Schneider said the tie-up will generate €400m (£350m) in savings a year by 2018 thanks to a bigger [...]
Goldman acts in metal row July 31, 2013 GOLDMAN Sachs responded to mounting scrutiny of its Metro International metals business yesterday by offering customers immediate access to aluminium stored in its warehouses. In a bid to cut waiting times at all London Metal Exchange (LME) warehouses Goldman said it would let major consumers swap aluminium held in its warehouses for metal the bank [...]
RBS branch bidder to list on AIM to raise funds for purchase effort July 31, 2013 A PROMINENT group of investors looking to purchase 316 branches from RBS and establish a new high street bank yesterday revealed plans to list on the alternative investments market (AIM). The group, called W&G Investments wants to buy the branches which RBS must sell off under the terms of its 2008 bailout. The [...]
Troika reviews Cyprus bailout July 31, 2013 CYPRUS has met targets for its bailout so far, despite an uncertain outlook, according to yesterday’s review by the Troika of lenders. The statement, issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB), suggested that good progress was being made toward the conditions on Cyprus’ €10bn (£8.76bn) bailout. If the [...]
BNP bucks trend with German expansion plan July 31, 2013 GIANT French bank BNP Paribas saw profits slip in the second quarter, the lender reported yesterday, as its wide-ranging cost cutting programme failed to offset falling revenues in its investment banking arm. But in contrast to many other large European banks which are cutting back foreign operations, the bank announced a new push to expand [...]
Aldermore plans £1bn growth per year to challenge big lenders July 31, 2013 FOUR year old bank Aldermore hopes to grow its balance sheet by up to £1bn each year as it takes advantage of the larger lenders’ consolidation to seize market share, the lender’s chief told City A.M. yesterday. The bank recorded an operating profit of £9.2m in the first half of the year, up from £1m [...]
Four arrests for insider trading July 31, 2013 THREE men and a woman were arrested yesterday as part of an investigation by the City’s watchdog into insider trading. “The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with the assistance of the Metropolitan Police has this morning executed search warrants in west London,” the FCA said. The four individuals are aged 25, 29, 51, and 56. They [...]
Brewin offsets shift in rules July 31, 2013 WEALTH manager Brewin Dolphin yesterday said higher fee income helped cushion the negative impact of retail distribution review (RDR) rule changes last quarter. Trail commission – which RDR banned in January – and other income fell 33 per cent at the firm for the quarter ending June. But a 27 increase in core income from [...]
Kazakhstani businessman arrested in fraud case July 31, 2013 MUKHTAR Ablyazov, a Kazakhstani businessman accused of a $6bn (£3.95bn) fraud involving his former bank BTA, was yesterday arrested in the south of France. Sources with knowledge of the arrest told City A.M. that the arrest was “entirely due to the fraud charges” and was not related to his role as an opponent of the [...]
F&C cost trimming bears fruit as it bounces back into the black July 31, 2013 F&C ASSET Management’s lengthy turnaround gathered pace yesterday after it said aggressive cost-cutting at the company had helped increase half-year profits. The FTSE-250 business, which wants to slash about £50m from its budget by 2015, said it made a statutory pre-tax profit of about £9m for the six months to June after cutting operating costs [...]
