Swoop for debt firm heralds pay day for founder February 10, 2014 A DEBT collection agency founded in a living room in Wimbledon was sold yesterday to a JC Flowers-backed business for £295m, netting its founder about £25m. Marlin Financial, which was founded 12 years ago by entrepreneur Martin Dunphy, was sold to JC-backed Cabot Credit Management after a deal was struck over the weekend. The acquisition [...]
City Moves for 11 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 10, 2014 IFDS The outsourcing and technology firm has appointed Simon Moorhead as global chief information officer. He joins from the Bank of England, where he was chief information officer. Moorhead has also held roles at Reuters, Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini and HSBC. Coutts Arne Hassel has been appointed head of investments at the private bank. [...]
London Report: Utilities drag on FTSE as energy profits debated February 10, 2014 FRESH political pressure on British utilities hit the sector’s stocks yesterday, limiting broader gains in the UK’s top equity index although it rose for the fourth straight session. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up by 0.3 per cent, or 19.87 points, at 6,591.55 points. Gains at British bank Barclays and drugmaker AstraZeneca together added [...]
Barclays releases key profit figures early February 10, 2014 We've got some early Barclays news. The bank has released some key figures ahead of its full year results (due tomorrow at 7.00am). Within the results, Barclays will announce adjusted profit before tax for 2013 of £5.2bn and statutory profit before tax of £2.9bn. Barclays' pre-released figures don’t factor in additional charges for litigation and [...]
Barclays faces probe for huge client data loss February 10, 2014 BARCLAYS could be forced to update its data protection and customer security systems after an information breach saw the details of thousands of customers put up for sale. The bank is analysing the details of customers to find out who was affected and how their details were stolen from Barclays Financial Planning Services, a unit [...]
Bankers will not run new industry standards body February 10, 2014 THE NEW body being set up to improve standards in banking and restore faith in the industry will not be run by bankers, Sir Richard Lambert is expected to announce tomorrow. The former boss of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is thought to be keen to avoid claims the group is run by bankers [...]
Barclays faces probe for huge client data loss February 10, 2014 BARCLAYS could be forced to update its data protection and customer security systems after an information breach saw the details of thousands of customers put up for sale. The bank is analysing the details of customers to find out who was affected and how their details were stolen from Barclays Financial Planning Services, a unit [...]
Economists expect Carney to scrap unemployment threshold February 9, 2014 THE STRENGTH of Britain’s recovery has taken the Bank of England by surprise and will force Mark Carney to drop his unemployment threshold this week, economists are predicting. Last summer the governor said he and the monetary policy committee (MPC) would only consider raising interest rates once the unemployment rate fell below seven per cent. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 10 February 2014 February 9, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BEAZLEY Canaccord Genuity keeps its “buy” rating and raises its target from 265p to 290p following an upbeat set of results from the insurance group last week. The broker has raised its earnings targets and thinks that if Beazley hits them, investors will [...]
London Report: Barclays, Bank of England and Lloyds in focus February 9, 2014 BRITISH banks will be under the spotlight this week as Barclays and Lloyds deliver their full-year results and Bank of England governor Mark Carney updates the markets on its forward guidance policy for setting rates. Lloyds has already provided an update on its progress, predicting an underlying profit of £6.2bn for 2013 compared to £2.6bn [...]