Crack out the Jack Daniel’s: Sterling bond issuance lives after Brexit vote June 30, 2016 Two sterling-denominated debt deals launched today, a week after the UK voted to leave the European Union. British American Tobacco (BAT) is reportedly selling a five-year benchmark bond totalling £500m. And US drinks company Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniel’s and Finlandia vodka, is in the market with a £300m, 12-year deal. It also announced a €300m [...]
Relief rally remains as Brexit sell-off reverses June 29, 2016 The FTSE 100 has bounced back from the post-referendum crisis with another strong open, rising 2.4 per cent today. Every single company rose higher in the first minutes of trading, as investors return to downtrodden stocks and the appetite for risks returns. The index stood at 6,286 – just 50points shy of where it closed [...]
Tobacco companies remain an addiction for stock market investors – and Brexit gave them a boost too June 29, 2016 Cigarette companies have been under the cosh for years as Western governments try to stamp out addiction to cancer sticks. But the anti-smoking lobby has failed on one count – to sufficiently dent the fortunes of tobacco companies on the stock market. Despite the battering the UK stock market has taken since Friday’s Brexit announcement, shares [...]
Challenger banks creep into the worldwide ranks, but it might not be time to celebrate just yet June 29, 2016 Challengers are making their presence felt in the banking world, with two well-known names making their way into a worldwide ranking for the first time this year. According to The Banker's Top 1,000 Banks rankings for 2016, which was published today and ranks institutes by their tier one capital, Metro has placed 969th, while Sainsbury's Bank ranked at [...]
SNP meets City lobbyist as Edinburgh seeks London’s financial crown June 28, 2016 One of the City's top lobbyists is in talks with the SNP on making Edinburgh a financial services powerhouse after Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon pledged to secure access to the European single market. Cicero Group executive chairman Iain Anderson, whose clients include City heavyweights BlackRock, Rio Tinto and Barclays, met SNP deputy leader Stewart Hosie yesterday to [...]
Moody’s slashes outlook for eight UK banks to negative after Brexit June 28, 2016 Moody’s has dropped its outlook for eight UK banks and building societies after last week’s Brexit vote. The ratings agency has also changed its outlook for the UK banking system from stable to negative. Moody’s expects the result of the EU referendum to “reduce the profitability” of the banks. Read more: S&P and Fitch downgrade UK after [...]
Oil prices rally post-Brexit vote on Norway strike threat June 28, 2016 Oil shook off a two-day slump which ensued after Britain's vote to leave the EU, helped by the threat of a union strike by Norwegian oil and gas workers. The strike at western Europe's biggest producer, which could start as soon as Saturday, would add to a string of outages in oil-producing countries such as Nigeria. [...]
Jury has now reached a verdict for three men charged with Libor-rigging offences June 28, 2016 The jury on the most recent Libor case to go to court in the UK has arrived at a verdict for three of the men charged, but is still deliberating on the other two defendants. Former Barclays traders Stylianos Contogoulas, Jay Merchant, Alex Pabon and Ryan Reich and former Libor submitter Jonathan Mathew are all [...]
Mary Francis joins Barclays as a non-executive director June 28, 2016 A former senior independent director of Centrica has today been appointed a non-executive director at Barclays. Mary Francis, who is currently serving on the board at Swiss Re Group and has previously held non-executive positions at Aviva, Cable & Wireless Communications, the Bank of England and Alliance & Leicester, will join the board of the bank at [...]
At the open: Relief in the City as stock markets stage mini-recovery June 28, 2016 Stock markets recorded their first gain since the UK voted to leave the European Union – jumping in the first few minutes of trading this morning and, crucially, holding on throughout the day. After two days of deep falls and mass trading suspensions, the bluechip FTSE 100 was up 2.5 per cent by lunchtime at 6,131. [...]