Funding pressure as China pulls out of Eurozone forex September 20, 2011 MONEY market strains worsened yesterday after Standard & Poor’s cut Italy’s credit rating and the Bank of China halted foreign exchange swaps with several European banks. Eurozone bank borrowing at the European Central Bank’s weekly tender surged to €201bn, the highest in seven months in a sign of growing stress in the sector. Three-month dollar [...]
EUROZONE SEARCHES FOR SOLUTION September 20, 2011 German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition agreed a draft law on an enhanced Eurozone bailout fund Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has been locked in bailout talks with the parties funding his bailout ECB president Jean Claude-Trichet urged banks in the Eurozone to strengthen their balance sheets Silvio Berlusconi lashed out at S&P’s downgrade of Italy, claiming [...]
Spanish debt costs rise to three-year high despite solid demand at debt sale September 20, 2011 SPAIN saw the cost of its debt rise to three-year highs at an auction yesterday, despite a solid level of investor demand. Madrid sold at the higher end of its €3.5-4.5bn target range, but buyers demanded yields on the one-year and 18-month bonds that were around 20 basis points higher than at the last equivalent sale. [...]
Ireland shows austerity does work September 20, 2011 IRELAND has experienced more austerity than most during its troubled history. Its 2011 budget was no potato famine, but tough nonetheless. Social welfare payments were cut by an average of four per cent – the first cuts since 1924 – and public sector pay was slashed by between five and ten per cent. Last month, [...]
RESTAURANT KING CLAIMS RAMSAY BID IS A GAMBLE September 20, 2011 THE jury is out as to whether Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen – the One New Change venture dubbed “the acceptable face of high street food” – will prove a hit. “Whatever anyone says about Gordon, he knows what people want and he is incredibly resilient,” said restaurant expert Simon Davis, speaking at last night’s [...]
Lufthansa warning hits shares at IAG September 20, 2011 SHARES in British Airways parent IAG fell 2.9 per cent yesterday after rival Lufthansa issued a profit warning. Germany’s Lufthansa, which is looking to sell its British-based BMI airline, said a weaker than expected August had dented operating profits, which are no longer expected to beat last year’s figure of €876m (£762m). The firm also [...]
UK small caps get boost from new takeover rules September 20, 2011 SEVERAL UK small-cap companies saw their shares boosted yesterday, a day after new takeover rules forced potential targets to tell the market the names of their prospective buyers. Arena Leisure, which had a market capitalisation of around £132m at yesterday’s close, saw its shares rise by 17 per cent during trading after it said it [...]
Revenues fall at Jefferies after trade backfires September 20, 2011 INVESTMENT bank Jefferies Group said yesterday its quarterly revenue dipped two per cent, hurt by a tough trading environment, but the mid-sized player raised its buyback programme to 20m shares. Revenue at Jefferies fell to $509.2m (£323.6m), hurt by a loss of $74m from trades the bank made on its own account. For the quarter [...]
Gulf Keystone raises $200m in rights issue September 20, 2011 KURDISTAN-FOCUSED explorer Gulf Keystone said it raised $200m (£127m) in a placing to help accelerate the development of the massive oil discoveries it has made in the semi-autonomous region of Iraq. The company said yesterday it issued 91m new shares in an oversubscribed placing at a price of 140p, representing a 14 per cent discount to [...]
Success for Max at Kazakh well September 20, 2011 BRITISH oil explorer Max Petroleum said it was encouraged by drilling results at a well in Kazakhstan, indicating 36 metres of potential net oil pay. Oil pay or net pay refers to the zone of a reservoir that contains economically producible oil. The Kazakhstan-focused company also said it recorded significant shows of oil and gas [...]
