Airline’s ambitions to join the FTSE 100 sped Rake’s departure January 27, 2013 AT first sight, the departure of Sir Michael Rake as EasyJet chairman is a victory for Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the company’s founder turned thorn-in-its-side. Sir Stelios sought Sir Michael’s removal last summer, following the BT chairman’s appointment to deputy chairman at Barclays, arguing overcommitment. However, despite public criticism by EasyJet’s largest shareholder, Sir Michael held [...]
Barclays mulls bond issuance January 27, 2013 Barclays is expected to launch a new bond in the coming months in response to the Bank of England’s demands that the UK’s biggest banks shore up their finances. The Bank believes the institutions are underestimating the amount of capital they need by tens of billions of pounds. Barclays issued a contingent convertible (coco) bond [...]
FTSE 100 flat after hitting multi-year highs January 25, 2013 The leading share index was flat in this morning’s trading, after the FTSE 100 hit its highest level in almost five years yesterday, giving London its best start to the trading year since 1989. The blue chip index surged past the 6,200 level, closing up just over one per cent at 6,264.91 last night. But [...]
Stocks roar back January 24, 2013 UK STOCK markets turned a corner yesterday after blue chip firms spurred the FTSE to its highest level in nearly five years, giving London its best start to the trading year since 1989. The FTSE 100 list of Britain’s biggest companies surged past the 6,200 mark to its highest level since May 2008, capping off [...]
Barclays staff in Libor probe named in court January 24, 2013 EMAILS from Barclays’ former top bosses including Bob Diamond were passed to regulators as part of the Libor fixing investigation, a court revealed yesterday, after a bid by those listed to remain anonymous failed. A total of 106 staff and former employees had wanted to go un-named, including 25 people identified in the regulatory filing. [...]
City Moves for 25 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 24, 2013 Vestra Wealth Management Heinz Schmid has been appointed fixed income strategist in the wealth management firm’s investment team. He joins from Investec, and was previously head of UK fixed income at BNP Paribas. Schmid has also managed HSBC Investment Management’s sterling fixed income team, and held a number of roles at UBS. Centrus Advisors Geoff [...]
FTSE 100 smashes through 6,200 barrier January 24, 2013 The blue chip index edged up in early trades, and smashed through the 6,200 barrier although disappointing results from US technology behemoth Apple weighed on sentiment. The company posted record profits last night, but warned of lower revenue growth in the coming months, which sent its shares down more than 10 per cent in after-hours [...]
Lloyds renews job cutting plan with another 940 staff to go January 23, 2013 LLOYDS staff in roles from IT support to insurance to branch management were yesterday notified they will be leaving the bank as it continued to roll out its plan to cut another 15,000 jobs. Lloyds informed 940 staff across the country they will be losing their jobs over the next three to six months, depending [...]
House prices in US climb 5.6pc in the 12 months to November January 23, 2013 HOUSE prices in the US shot up by 5.6 per cent in the year to November, according to a widely-observed survey released yesterday. Prices of American homes climbed 0.6 per cent in November, compared to the previous month, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The FHFA compiles data from new mortgages owned or guaranteed [...]
Best of the brokers January 23, 2013 BARCLAYS Investec upgraded the bank yesterday on the back of new investment bank job cuts. Although the market knew some staff were being trimmed, the scale took the analysts by surprise. “Consensus still appears to underestimate the material benefit that will flow through the Barcap cost line as headcount and pay are rebased to the [...]