Madoff winner leaves $200m November 10, 2009 Jeffry Picower, the billionaire beneficiary of Bernard Madoff’s fraud scheme who died last month, has left $200m to his wife in his will. Picower, who died in Florida, was one of the biggest winners in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. His wife has also been appointed chairwoman of a charitable foundation to be funded with assets from [...]
City airport hit by travel cutbacks November 10, 2009 LONDON City Airport has seen a 15 per cent fall in passenger numbers so far this year, as its customers, who are typically well-heeled financial executives, tighten their belts. The airport, located near the ExCeL centre in the Docklands, has suffered as City institutions cut back on business trips and opt for cheaper alternatives like [...]
Paulson doubles stake in Cadbury after Kraft bid November 10, 2009 Hedge fund star John Paulson, who bet against the US housing market just before its collapse, has doubled his stake in Cadbury. The New York-based hedge fund now owns 28.5m shares, or 2.08 per cent, of Cadbury after spending some £112m on 14.8m shares at 759.59p, according to British regulatory filings. John Paulson ranks as [...]
Britain’s triple-A debt status at risk because of deficit November 10, 2009 THE SORRY state of Britain’s public finances came under renewed fire yesterday after ratings agency Fitch warned that, out of the industrialised nations, the UK is most at risk of losing its coveted triple-A sovereign debt status because of its ballooning public deficit. Only the hope that the next government will implement radical measures to [...]
Nat Exp will launch rights issue today November 10, 2009 NATIONAL Express will today launch a discounted rights issue to raise about £370m after it rejected a series of takeover approaches, City A.M. can confirm. The debt-laden transport group will pitch the cash-call at a discount of around 40 per cent to the theoretical ex-rights price. Shares closed down 3.1p at 338p last night, valuing [...]
ORANGE BREAKS IPHONE RECORD November 10, 2009 ORANGE sold more than 30,000 iPhones yesterday, just hours after it became the first network to break O2’s two year UK monopoly on the phenomenally successful Apple handset. The France Telecom-owned firm said that the level of sales booked by 4pm set a new record for a mobile phone launch in Britain. It is selling [...]
Barclays gets a boost from star BarCap November 10, 2009 BARCLAYS, the UK’s second-largest bank, yesterday revealed a robust third-quarter profit haul and signalled light at the end of the bad debt tunnel, in a sign that the nascent economic recovery is feeding through into the banking sector. Barclays said pre-tax profit for the third quarter came in at £1.56bn, down from £2.8bn a year [...]
Geoghegan calls bottom as HSBC signals higher profits November 10, 2009 HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan yesterday stuck his head above the parapet by definitively calling an end to the crisis, as the bank revealed third quarter profits were “significantly ahead” of last year. “I believe that the biggest jolt has now passed through the global economy,” Geoghegan said. “But it is too early to claim [...]
HOW DO THE RESULTS FROM BARCLAYS AND HSBC COMPARE WITH EACH OTHER? November 10, 2009 JAAP MEIJER EVOLUTIONWe failed to be particularly excited by HSBC as it seems more of a turnaround story with cost-cutting and bad debts peaking. By contrast, we feel Barclays Capital can truly be made into an immensely profitable business post-acquisition of Lehman Brothers – currently the numbers are spoiled by large impairments but when they [...]
Commerzbank brings in bonus clawback option November 10, 2009 GERMANY’S Commerzbank will introduce a clawback option to its bonus system next year as the banking industry aims to stop the short-term risk-taking that helped bring about the financial crisis. The bank, 25 per cent owned by the German state after an €18bn (£16.1bn) bailout, is responding to public outrage over the eye-popping payouts made [...]
