Hedgie calls on Lloyds to improve its capital base June 18, 2012 A prominent hedge fund has called for Lloyds Banking Group to boost its capital by ditching its contingent convertible debt (cocos). Chris Hohn of the Children’s Investment Fund has written to the FSA to claim Lloyds’ cocos have too low a strike price, meaning the securities would not absorb losses until the bank was in [...]
Nine Elms residential towers granted planning consent June 18, 2012 A scheme to add a pair of high-rise residential towers to London’s South Bank was granted planning consent last night by Wandsworth council. The “One Nine Elms” project, proposed by Green Property and CIT Group, will see the existing 1970s Market Towers replaced with 58 and 43 storey skyscrapers, with 500 homes, offices and shops. [...]
Shake-up starts as Man Group hires Sorrell June 18, 2012 STRICKEN hedge fund Man Group yesterday responded to poor performances and investor disquiet by dropping its finance chief. Outgoing finance director Kevin Hayes has been replaced with immediate effect by Jonathan Sorrell, son of billionaire WPP chief executive Sir Martin Sorrell. The fund, which is the world’s second largest by assets, has made the switch [...]
PROFILE: JONATHAN SORRELL June 18, 2012 AS yet it is unclear whether a 34-year old who enjoyed the best of the City’s booming noughties is best placed to help dig out Man Group from a large-scale crisis. But Jonathan Sorrell certainly has pedigree. Son of Sir Martin, the head of advertising group WPP, he studied law at Cambridge, from 1995 to [...]
Cable calls for house building to lift economy June 18, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable yesterday blamed the destruction of Britain’s building societies for the lack of mortgage lending, and hinted at plans to help spark a house-building boom that could boost the construction sector. In a speech to the Centre Forum given in the City, Cable compared today’s economic slump with the depression of the [...]
HKEx investors show concern over LME deal as shares fall June 18, 2012 SHARES in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) fell by the most in two weeks yesterday on concerns the stock exchange operator overpaid in its $2.2bn deal for the London Metal Exchange (LME). In the first session since the acquisition was announced late on Friday, HKEx shares slipped as much as 4.5 per cent to [...]
A costly acquisition may still show its mettle June 18, 2012 AS THEIR shares fell 4.5 per cent yesterday, owners of stock in Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) may have been wondering why it had fought so hard to acquire the London Metal Exchange (LME). At £1.4bn, the Hong Kong bourse had to pay a premium to wrest Europe’s last open outcry exchange from the [...]
London needs a successful IPO of Direct Line Group June 18, 2012 WITH the future of Greece and perhaps the entire Eurozone hanging in the balance, now is probably not the best time to look towards a big initial public offering in the London market. IPOs themselves have had a dismal few weeks, what with Graff Diamonds postponing its listing in Hong Kong (the doubts over the [...]
Tesco pays to dispose of its Japanese arm June 18, 2012 SUPERMARKET giant Tesco yesterday ended a nine-year attempt to crack Japan’s tough retail market by effectively paying Aeon, the country’s second-biggest general retailer, to take its loss-making business off its hands. The deal, which will allow Tesco to focus on fixing its main British business after a shock profit warning in January, will re-heat speculation [...]
Partner profits up 14 per cent at Eversheds June 18, 2012 BRITISH LAW firm Eversheds announced a jump of 14 per cent in partner equity profits yesterday and a three per cent increase in revenue as it unveiled its 2011-2012 financial results. Revenues rose three per cent to £366m, while partner equity profits increased to £632,000. The firm, which has 16 offices globally, achieved its highest [...]
