Stock buybacks twice as likely as new issues February 4, 2013 UK listed companies returned twice as much money to shareholders through share buybacks in 2012 as they raised in new capital, according to figures released today. Last year businesses spent £12.4bn buying back and cancelling their own shares compared to the £5.9bn they raised from the stock market through IPOs and rights issues. “The imbalance [...]
Half of finance directors have no succession plan at their firm February 4, 2013 MORE than half of UK finance directors have no succession plan in place according to research released today. The survey of 200 finance directors by recruitment consultancy Robert Half found 55 per cent of respondents had no plans to ensure a smooth transition at their business, Yesterday Barclays confirmed that group finance director Chris Lucas [...]
Accountants enjoy fresh rises in pay February 4, 2013 BRITAIN’S accountants have enjoyed a seven per cent pay rise in the last year, marking three years of solid wage growth, research showed yesterday. The average salary rose five per cent to £64,022, according to a survey conducted by financial services recruiter Marks Sattin. But it was a bigger-than-expected bonus pool that boosted bean counters’ [...]
Top dealmaker Hannam gets set for new advisory venture February 4, 2013 FORMER JP Morgan dealmaker Ian Hannam, one of the City’s most prolific M&A bankers, is in the early throes of setting up a new investment boutique advising companies in the mining, oil and gas sectors, it emerged yesterday. Hannam, who stepped down from his role at the bank last April to contest a £450,000 fine [...]
Cruddas gets £45,000 win February 4, 2013 PETER Cruddas, executive chairman of CMC Markets and former co-treasurer of the Conservative Party, was yesterday awarded libel damages of £45,000 in the High Court against Mark Adams, the political lobbyist. Cruddas stepped down from his post in the Conservative Party after a series of allegations about his role in Tory party funding. At a [...]
M&C Saatchi heads claim shares February 4, 2013 Advertising giant M&C Saatchi has awarded shares worth more than £7m to four directors, including co-founder Lord Saatchi, as it announced “profits in line with expectations.” In an interim statement, the agency network said it was awarding 886,733 shares each to Lord Saatchi, chief executive David Kershaw, executive director Bill Muirhead and chairman Jeremy Sinclair. [...]
LondonMetric starts spending February 4, 2013 LondonMetric Property has moved quickly to boost its property portfolio following the merger of London & Stamford and Metric Property Investment last month. In its first interim management statement, the firm said that between 1 October last year and 1 February it has exchanged contracts for six retail warehouses worth £92.4m, as well as further [...]
Banco de Valencia posts loss February 4, 2013 Spain’s Banco de Valencia, which was bought by Spain’s third-largest lender Caixabank last year, reported a loss of €3.6bn (£3.1bn) for 2012, the bank restructuring fund (FROB) said yesterday. While Banco de Valencia is still technically held by the FROB, CaixaBank bought the smaller lender for €1 with the benefit of a government-funded programme to [...]
Standard owner wins London TV February 4, 2013 LONDON will gain its own TV station next year, after the race to operate the channel was awarded to Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, the owner of the Evening Standard and Independent newspapers. Communications regulator Ofcom announced that Lebedev’s London Live bid had beaten four competitors to win the rights to the contract. London is one [...]
Tokyo tops cost of living table – but London rises to 16th place February 4, 2013 TOKYO has regained its position as the most expensive major city in the world, according to figures released today, while the ongoing financial crisis has pushed down the relative cost of living in the Eurozone. Research by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows uncertainty surrounding the single currency has made it relatively cheaper to live in [...]
