BEST OF THE BROKERSn February 14, 2010 BT GROUP Charles Stanley says last week’s third quarter results from BT were positive, particularly for overall improvement in profitability, and a small uplift in full year cash flow guidance was also welcome. “However, overshadowing all this was the news on the pension fund, which was overall worse than expectations,” Stanley said. SMITH & NEPHEW Edison [...]
BT has £9bn pension hole February 11, 2010 BT yesterday revealed a yawning pension deficit of £9bn. Shares in the company – which now has the biggest pension deficit in the private sector – nose-dived as the extent of the black hole was revealed. The firm announced an agreement with trustees to pay back the vast sum over 17 years, adding £525m into [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF BT’S MASSIVE PENSION DEFICIT? February 11, 2010 ROS ALTMANN | INDEPENDENT PENSIONS EXPERT BT has a huge pension scheme with a massive deficit. The company is doing quite well, so it’s important it pays as much as it can into the scheme now. If it doesn’t, we could see a situation similar to British Airways, which is in serious trouble with its [...]
Banks suffer as concerns over their Greek exposure weigh February 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed 0.6 per cent higher on Thursday, as gains in commodities outpaced falls in banks, which remained mired in uncertainty over Eurozone’s plans to deal with Greece’s debt problems. BT Group slumped 8.8 per cent, topping the losers’s list on the FTSE 100 and hitting a more than six-month low after [...]
BT to tackle record £9bn pension fund deficit February 11, 2010 STRONGER third quarter profits at telecoms giant BT were today overshadowed by concerns over its record £9bn pension deficit as it published the results of its long awaited evaluation. The FTSE 100 group said it had agreed a 17-year recovery plan for the scheme under which it will pay £525M a year for the first [...]
Infineon faces battle over chair February 10, 2010 Infineon could see its chairman-designate blocked today by shareholders in what would be a milestone for corporate governance in Germany. Shareholders in the German chipmaker – led by Hermes, the UK fund manager owned by the BT pension scheme – have led a month-long campaign to bar Klaus Wucherer, a long-time Infineon non-executive director, as [...]
BT boosts competition in cables February 8, 2010 BT is poised to open up its underground cable ducts so that competitors can run their own high-speed broadband networks through the telecoms company’s infrastructure. This would allow them to lay their optical fibre cables without the cost of digging up pavements. The move marks an important policy shift by BT.
BT pension firm Hermes sets up a credit boutique February 3, 2010 HERMES, the fund firm owned by the BT pension fund, has set up a new credit boutique with a £400m investment from its parent as it seeks to drive third-party business. The launch is part of a wider effort to grow Hermes’ third-party business, which chief investment officer Saker Nusseibeh, said would aim to bring [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 3, 2010 BSKYB ING advises investors to “buy” BSkyB shares citing its “decent financials” and strong operating metrics despite the consumer recession. Believes its recent results indicate it’s a company for “BT to worry about”. Says the shares are “too cheap by far,” and that the market is underestimating its growth plans. Expects it to grow more [...]
Retail bonds launch online February 1, 2010 A NEW online trading platform will open up the corporate bond and gilt market to the retail sector. The launch of a new order book by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) yesterday will allow far greater access to private investors. Of an estimated 10,000 bond packages available, only 200 were readily available to retail investors. [...]