Lambert wants US banks to join standards body September 22, 2013 RICHARD Lambert, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, who was appointed by Britain’s biggest banks to set up a new independent banking standards body on Thursday, is calling for the big US banks to sign up. The body will be independent from the banking industry, and has been initiated following a recommendation [...]
Ireland pulls out of recession as exports help recovery strengthen September 19, 2013 THE IRISH economy climbed out of recession in the second quarter, official figures showed yesterday, as the struggling Eurozone nation showed signs of life. National accounts reveal a 0.4 per cent increase in GDP in the three month period, driven by growth in exports which soared 4.3 per cent. However, GNP – which excludes some [...]
It’s raining runners: Hundreds turn out for annual relay race September 19, 2013 THE SQUARE Mile’s many sporting fanatics were out in force last night, despite the wet weather, for the annual Bloomberg Square Mile Relay. The race sees around 100 teams of ten runners competing over a specially-designed mile-long course, including reigning champions Barclays and previous medal-winners Legal & General and Macquarie. As usual there was fighting [...]
Barclays shares dive after rights issue offer comes to an end September 18, 2013 SHARES in Barclays plunged sharply yesterday after the deadline for investors to be eligible for discounted stock in the bank’s rights issue. But the fall in price was less sharp than feared, indicating investors remain upbeat on the bank’s earnings potential. Yesterday shares dropped 7.29 per cent to 277.2p. The stock had been pumped up [...]
Tesco tipped to unveil budget tablet device September 17, 2013 TESCO, the UK’s largest grocer, is expected to unveil a tablet next Monday – its first foray into the consumer electronics space – which could be aimed at cementing customer loyalty as the retail giant moves sales online. The device is expected to be a 16GB tablet device with a seven inch screen. It is [...]
Brand Index: Account switching means banks must fight to stay current September 17, 2013 THIS WEEK, new rules took effect that will allow the UK’s 46m current account holders to switch banks in seven days. According to 2011 research from the Banking Commission, the average customer stayed with the same bank for 26 years, but with switching now easier than ever before, we could be entering a new era [...]
Lloyds shares weakening after government sale September 17, 2013 The price for a six per cent stake in Lloyds has been announced – 75p per share. A small discount on the bank's current market value, and set to raise £3.21bn as the government reduces its stake from 38.7 per cent to 32.7 per cent. The government sale was covered 2.8 times by demand from [...]
Barclays fights £50m fine over Qatari capital September 16, 2013 BARCLAYS is fighting a £50m fine from the City watchdog, which has accused the bank of behaving improperly when it raised capital from Qatar in the financial crisis. Barclays is also looking into consumer loans in which may have wrongly overcharged hundreds of thousands of customers. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) believes the bank acted [...]
Online retailer The Hut Group sees revenue jump in first half September 16, 2013 THE FOOTWEAR-to-protein shake conglomerate The Hut Group yesterday reported a spike in net revenues for the six months ending June this year. The company, which added 250 new jobs over the last 12 months to take its headcount to 750 employees, reported a thirty per cent jump in revenues from £59.1m a year ago to [...]
Best of the brokers for 17 September 2013 September 16, 2013 PRUDENTIAL Broker Panmure Gordon has retained its buy rating but upgraded its target price for the insurer to 1,453p per share from 1,376p per share. It said it anticipates the Pru to announce a series of stretching targets at the start of December that will help the share price. BARCLAYS Nomura analysts have upgraded the [...]