Float of Direct Line is official October 16, 2012 DIRECT Line Group yesterday completed its first day as a full listed company, marking the official completion of the largest London float in 2012. All 1.5bn shares in the firm were added to the official list of the UK Listing Authority, while it began unconditional trading under the “DLG” ticker. The share price has been relatively stable, [...]
Clegg insists boundary reform is dead October 16, 2012 LIB Dem leader Nick Clegg yesterday insisted that his party will vote against changes to MPs’ constituencies – a decision that will make it harder for the Conservatives to win an outright majority at the next election. Proposed changes to boundaries were published yesterday and a vote is scheduled for October 2013, but any change [...]
Moody’s stops short of Spain downgrade October 16, 2012 MOODY’S last night maintained its Baa3 rating on Spanish sovereign debt, one notch above junk, though it moved to a negative outlook. Moody’s said Spain should have access to the capital markets at reasonable rates while it turns around its economy, thanks to “the combination of euro area and ECB support and the Spanish government’s [...]
Greece prepares second wave of privatisations to raise cash October 16, 2012 GREECE plans to launch tenders to sell or lease a string of state assets, including its biggest refiner and two largest ports, as it battles to pay down debt and meet the terms of an international bailout. The deals will be a second wave of privatisations after six projects which are expected to complete in [...]
South pushes Eurozone into trade surplus October 16, 2012 THE EUROZONE swung into a trade surplus over the first eight months of the year, data revealed yesterday, driven by boosted exports from southern regions. The Eurozone’s trade balance was €46.9bn (£38bn) in surplus between January and August 2012, Eurostat said, up from a €26.8bn deficit over the same period last year. Spain, Italy and Greece all [...]
Blankfein’s caution proves risk-off banking is here to stay October 16, 2012 FOR a brief hour or so yesterday, the banking world was gripped by a success story. Goldman Sachs, which this time last year posted close to half a billion dollars in losses, threw its hat into a largely upbeat round of US results by almost doubling overall revenues and sending shares up in early trading. [...]
Gold Fields delivers strike ultimatum October 16, 2012 South African bullion producer Gold Fields has given striking workers at its South Africa mines until tomorrow to return to work or face immediate dismissal, chief executive Nick Holland said yesterday. Gold Fields said 23,500 workers in South Africa were still on a strike that has cost the company 65,000 ounces of lost gold production, [...]
TNK-BP fails to stop documents October 16, 2012 A former employee of TNK-BP yesterday won a High Court case in London to end a gagging order to stop him from leaking company documents, which he says show corruption between company executives and government officials. TNK-BP blocked the disclosure of the documents, which former head of logistics Igor Lazurenko claims are damaging to TNK-BP’s [...]
William Hill and GVC edge closer to Sportingbet October 16, 2012 TAKEOVER duo William Hill and GVC yesterday finally won the backing of the Sportingbet board for plans to buy the online gambler after sweetening its offer for the firm to 61.1p a share. The companies will now start due diligence on the businesses with hopes of making a firm offer before a Takeover Panel deadline [...]
Facebook checks in to London for first non-US development office October 16, 2012 FACEBOOK yesterday unveiled its London engineering office, the company’s first outside the US. The social network’s Covent Garden hub, opened by chancellor George Osborne, has around 20 staff working on a number of special projects, in particular Facebook’s smartphone apps. However, the firm’s vice president of engineering Mike Schroepfer said there was potential to expand [...]
