Lloyds denies bonus plans October 4, 2009 Lloyds Banking Group has refuted allegations that it plans to pay multi-million pound bonuses to its top managers. The rebuttal comes after it was alleged that the bank planned to match the pay of Royal Bank of Scotland’s executives. Lloyds claims that its remuneration committee is in the very early stages of a review and [...]
Japanese ex-finance minister dies October 4, 2009 A former Japanese finance minister was found dead at his home yesterday. Shoichi Nakagawa, who had to resign this year after appearing to be drunk at a G7 press conference, is not thought to have been the victim of foul play. An autopsy is expected.
Volvo approached by US group October 4, 2009 China’s Geely Automotive is thought to be readying itself for a takeover battle in the race to snap up Volvo, the loss making Swedish car manufacturer, from owner Ford. Geely, who has been in talks with Ford since September, is now facing competition from a US led consortium, fronted by Michael Dingman, a former Ford [...]
Aviva to raise 1bn by listing its Dutch unit October 4, 2009 INSURANCE group Aviva will today announce plans to raise £1bn through a partial flotation of Dutch unit Delta Lloyd. The insurer is expected to float between 30 and 40 per cent of the Dutch business on the Euronext Stock Exchange in Amsterdam. The listing will be the biggest initial public offering in Europe in the [...]
Legoland owner sets its sights on UStheme parks October 4, 2009 Blackstone, the private equity owner of Legoland and Madame Tussauds, is nearing a deal to snap up two of America’s famed theme parks for up to $3bn (£1.8bn). The US attractions SeaWorld and Busch Gardens are being sold off by brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, which is dumping non-core assets to help pay for its $52bn [...]
September car sales to book a yearly increase October 4, 2009 NEWcar registrations in September 2009 outstripped the previous year’s, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders is expected to show tomorrow, lending credence to the government’s decision to extend its scrappage scheme. New registrations for the month will be 10 per cent higher than in September 2008, in a further sign that the [...]
Gala Coral in 540m debt swap talks October 4, 2009 BINGO hall and casino operator Gala Coral is close to reaching agreement on a crucial £540m debt-for-equity swap, after months of flip-flopping about ways to secure a cash injection for the embattled company. Gala, which in June drafted in investment bank Lazard to look at options to allow it to invest in the downturn, is [...]
Trying to second-guess stocks is harder than ever October 4, 2009 EQUITY investors haven’t had much time for cliché this year. Earlier this year, they ignored dire predictions – coming from anyone with a keyboard or a microphone – that financial markets might never recover. Instead, they seized upon historically low valuations – and the trillions spent by governments around the world – and began the [...]
Tesco set to report slower sales growth October 4, 2009 TESCO, Britain’s biggest retailer, is set to report slower underlying UK sales growth than rival J Sainsbury for the fifth quarter in a row this week, alongside a small rise in first-half profit. But analysts expect Tesco to flag a stronger second-half profit performance, and some see signs it is beginning to close the gap [...]
RSA axes plans to tap markets for extra cash October 4, 2009 GENERAL insurer RSA, which operates the More Than brand in the UK, has abandoned its plans for an ambitious rights issue of around £628m. Chief executive Andy Haste is said to have told its bankers, JP Morgan and Merrill Lynch, to drop the capital raising after his plans to buy out insurance rivals with the [...]
