Branson rails at MPs over First Group win for West Coast line September 10, 2012 FIRST Group chief executive Tim O’Toole yesterday hit back at Richard Branson’s Virgin Trains, telling MPs that his rival was “flat out wrong” to claim First could not achieve continued revenue growth on the West Coast Main Line. “Contrary to Virgin’s depiction of their stewardship in recent years, since they’ve been in revenue support, they’ve [...]
Chaotic global red tape hurts savings firms September 10, 2012 AN EXCESSIVELY complicated and fragmented series of overlapping regulations are damaging the investment industry and hitting savers’ returns, the Investment Management Association (IMA) warned yesterday. The industry is becoming less efficient as governments fail to coordinate their regulations, and in some cases take a more protectionist stance, the IMA’s study claimed. In particular it uncovered [...]
Former UBS trader in court September 10, 2012 Kweku Adoboli, the former UBS trader arrested last year, went on trial yesterday at Southwark Crown Court. Jurors were selected by judge Brian Keith, who told them to ignore media coverage. The prosecution’s case will be set out by Sasha Wass on Friday, and the trial is expected to last about two months.
Japan Airlines raises $8.5bn in top Asian float September 10, 2012 JAPAN Airlines, the carrier nationalised by the Japanese government in 2010, yesterday secured top price for its initial public offering, making it the second biggest float of the year after Facebook. The offering, which was six times oversubscribed by investors, was priced at ¥3,790 (£30.24), the upper limit of a range between ¥3,500 and ¥3,790. [...]
Nasdaq vows to stand by its Facebook plan September 10, 2012 NASDAQ yesterday vowed to stand by it $62m (£39m) compensation plan for firms harmed by a glitch in Facebook’s market debut and defend itself against any related lawsuits. The news came as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz hampered the firm’s share price further by selling off more than $108m-worth of stock. Lee Shavel, Nasdaq’s chief financial [...]
US shrinks its AIG stake with $18bn sell-off September 10, 2012 SHARES in American International Group, the insurer bailed out by the US government in 2008, dipped yesterday after the US Treasury announced it was selling a $18bn (£11.2bn) stake back to the market. The US Treasury’s public offering, announced by AIG yesterday, will cut its ownership from 53 per cent to around 20 per cent [...]
Recovering taxpayer money on a bailout boosts moral hazard September 10, 2012 THE White House says the AIG shares sale demonstrates its “commitment to recover taxpayer money”. But not, one can’t help noting, to return it to actual taxpayers. And announcing the sale of $18bn of shares at once doesn’t sound like all that much of a commitment to selling at a great price. Still, the American [...]
BlackRock’s Fink pledges lower ETF fees September 10, 2012 BLACKROCK chief executive Larry Fink yesterday announced plans to lower fees on some of its iShares Exchange Traded Fund products with a strategy change this autumn. Speaking at the Barclays’ Global Financial Services Conference in New York, Fink said growing competition in the ETF sector meant the firm was going to unveil a new strategy [...]
Primark helps AB Foods buck market gloom September 10, 2012 PRIMARK owner Associated British Foods said it is set to enjoy a jump in full year profits thanks to a strong performance at the group’s discount fashion retailer, which continued to strike a chord with cash-strapped shoppers. Sales at Primark for the year to 15 September are expected to be 17 per cent ahead of [...]
Analyst Views | What was your reaction to AB Foods’ trading update? September 10, 2012 DARREN SHIRLEY | SHORE CAPITAL ABF has issued an update that has confirmed strong momentum has been sustained through Q4… In our view, the continuing strength of ABF’s performance in an increasingly challenging consumer environment further demonstrates that Primark is possibly the most potent retail format in the UK. GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE GORDON ABF [...]
