FTSE 100 down as Japanese exports fall October 22, 2012 The leading share index fell back this morning, as weak economic data from Japan weighed on sentiment. Sausage skin maker Devro led the poor performers this morning, shedding 7.74 per cent as it issued a profit warning. Brewer Punch Taverns fell 4.41 per cent, while software development firm Northgate dropped 4.4 per cent. Trading software [...]
Nationwide is mulling its first bank purchase October 22, 2012 THE NATIONWIDE building society is considering buying the 316 RBS branches which are up for sale, joining a small field of potential investors. The building society has expanded by merging with other mutuals over the years – but it is not thought that a building society has ever before acquired a bank, or such a [...]
Banks struggling to cope with volume of PPI misselling claims October 22, 2012 CONTRACTORS hired by banks to process PPI claims are having trouble attracting and keeping staff, according to research published today. Annual staff turnover has reached more than 50 per cent at the outsourced contractors, financial services recruiter BrightPool said, as there are few staff available who are competent at processing claims and can cope with [...]
Best of the Brokers October 21, 2012 BARCLAYS Canaccord has cut its rating on the bank from “buy” to “hold” while keeping its price target at 280p. The broker reckons a shake-up at Barclays Capital to make it more independent could bolster the shares. REDROW Panmure Gordon keeps its “hold” rating and 152p target on the house builder after takeover talks failed [...]
FTSE 100 weighed down by Aggreko October 19, 2012 The leading share index slipped on Friday, weighed down by banks and miners. Power supplier Aggreko fell back 7.38 per cent as it said this morning its full-year profits would be hit by unfavourable exchange rates and higher bad debt provision. Housebuilder Redrow fell 7.14 per cent as its founder Steve Morgan dropped its bid [...]
Misselling set to cost banks £12bn October 18, 2012 BARCLAYS put aside another £700m yesterday to deal with soaring payment protection insurance (PPI) misselling claims, as analysts warned that other banks would also have to increase their provisions. Analysts expect the four biggest banks to have set aside an additional £2.2bn over the last quarter to cover PPI misselling, taking the total for the [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs October 18, 2012 Barclays Mike Rigby has been appointed head of manufacturing, transport and logistics in Barclays’s corporate banking division. He joined the bank in 2008, and was previously corporate director in the manufacturing team. Rigby has also held roles at HSBC. Ernst & Young John Clarke has been appointed partner in the professional services firm’s operational transaction [...]
Positive Chinese data sees the FTSE grow to highest level since March October 18, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index rose to a seven-month closing high ysterday, bolstered by mining stocks on a reassuring economic outlook from top metals consumer China. Chinese economic growth slowed to 7.4 per cent year-on-year during the third quarter, as expected, but industrial output and retail sales data for September beat forecasts, paving the way for [...]
Barclays increases PPI provision by £700m October 18, 2012 Barclays has set aside a further £700m to cover Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims, after experiencing higher than expected claim volumes since the end of June. It takes its overall provision to £2bn from £1.3bn. UK banks have set aside more than £10bn to cover claims relating to the mis-selling of PPI. PPI policies were [...]
FTSE 100 at one-month highs October 18, 2012 The leading blue chip index was up this morning to a one-month high, with miners leading the pack once again. Evraz, Kazakhmys, Vedanta and Antofagasta all rose on the FTSE 100 in early trading, cheered by early signs of improvement in the economy of China. On the FTSE All-Share, insurer CPP Group rose 10.71 per [...]