US ushers in short selling rule February 24, 2010 The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has voted to implement a new rule that will impose short selling restrictions only when a stock’s price is plummeting, shying away from reinstating the full “uptick rule”. Under the new rule, short selling will be restricted on the day that a firm’s stock drops more than 10 [...]
Deutsche Telekom returns €10bn February 24, 2010 Deutsche Telekom is planning to return €10bn (£8.8bn) to shareholders in the next two years after a decision by its board on shareholder remuneration resulting in a €3.4bn (£2.9bn) yearly payment.
RBS bonuses to be capped at just £1.3bn February 24, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland will dish out £1.3bn in bonuses this year, well below the sum it had hoped to pay. The news comes as the bank prepares to announce a full-year loss of up to £6.5bn today – a huge turnaround from the record breaking losses of £24bn reported in 2008. The bank is [...]
Greeks clash with police over austerity measures February 24, 2010 Greek police fired tear gas at protesters as 25,000 people filled the Athens streets yesterday to voice their anger at the scale of cuts imposed by the Prime Minister George Papandreou government. Youths threw stones and smashed shop windows, police said. Greece’s national debt is four times higher than EU rules allow, and the government [...]
Aureos move leads to City exodus fears February 24, 2010 FEARS over the City’s pulling power were stoked yesterday when private equity operator Aureos Capital said it would open a base in Singapore. Aureos, which runs $1.2bn (£779m) in assets, will offer senior management a move to its Asian office. The firm is following in the footsteps of hedge funds Brevan Howard and BlueCrest Capital, [...]
Donations to Tories dwarf Labour February 24, 2010 THE Tories will fight the next election with a huge war chest of cash, after raking in twice as much as Labour in donations. David Cameron’s party reported donations totalling £10.5m in the last three months of 2009, dwarfing the £4.9m raised by Labour. Sir Nigel Doughty, founder of private equity house Doughty Hanson & [...]
St James’s boosts its annual dividend February 24, 2010 WEALTH manager St James’s Place beat analyst forecasts to deliver a 12 per cent increase in full-year operating profits yesterday, buoyed by rising markets in 2009. The Cirencester-based company, which is 60 per cent owned by Lloyds Banking Group, produced £228.9m compared with £204.3m a year earlier. Its pre-tax number swung from a loss of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IS ST JAMES’S PLACE POSITIONED FOR THE COMING YEAR? February 24, 2010 EAMONN FLANAGAN | SHORE CAPITAL The outlook statement was suitably cautious, highlighting higher tax, the forthcoming election and economic conditions. Trading at a discount to our 2010 net asset value (upgraded to 297p from 285p), we view the shares as materially undervalued – we reiterate our “buy” recommendation. BARRIE CORNES | PANMURE GORDON The partnership [...]
Rathbone reviews banking licence as profits dive 30pc February 24, 2010 RATHBONE Brothers has kicked off a formal review of the benefits of holding a banking licence as the prospect of tough regulatory changes looms. Chief executive Andy Pomfret told City A.M. the issue had been “on the radar” for some time, but explained: “What’s changing is there are likely to be changes in capital requirements. [...]
Outflows dent Henderson’s bottom line February 24, 2010 ANGLO-AUSTRALIAN fund manager Henderson reported a dip in profits for 2009 as outflows countered the effect of recovering markets and positive investment performance. The group, which last year took over struggling rival New Star, said recurring pre-tax profits after amortisation and charges was £63m, versus the £80.3m posted in 2008. Henderson said that at the [...]
