No shortage of literature for banking bookworms this month October 23, 2012 RECENT City A.M. award winner and property giant Westfield welcomed the Prime Minister’s wife to their Shepherd’s Bush store yesterday. Samantha Cameron, ambassador of Save the Children, gave a special reading of The Snail and the Whale at Foyles Bookstore to a group of children from Larmenier & Sacred Heart primary school. But for grown-up [...]
Best of the Brokers October 23, 2012 DIRECT LINE Nomura has begun to cover the newly listed firm with a “reduce” rating and a target price of 174p. Nomura said it was confident in Direct Line, but this was already factored into the price. LLOYDS Ian Gordon at Investec has advised investors to sell the bank’s shares and “seek refuge” in Barclays, claiming [...]
FTSE 100 down while Trinity Mirror tumbles October 23, 2012 The blue chip index was down in early trading today, while Trinity Mirror sustained heavy losses on the FTSE All-Share. The newspaper publishing group lost 11.5 per cent in early trading, after four people filed legal claims accusing the group’s newspapers of hacking phones. Defence equipment firm Chemring fell 7.6 per cent, as it announced [...]
What the other papers say this morning October 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BAE shareholders say chair must go A group of BAE Systems shareholders has demanded the resignation of chairman Dick Olver, saying sweeping changes are needed at the UK defence group following the collapse of its proposed merger with EADS two weeks ago. In a letter to the board, which has been seen by [...]
Permira to be new parent of Ancestry.com October 22, 2012 PRIVATE equity group Permira has splashed out $1.6bn (£1bn) on buying US-listed genealogy website operator Ancestry.com. The firm will take Ancestry private at $32 per share, a 10 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price. Ancestry’s chief executive Tim Sullivan and chief financial officer Howard Hochhauser will keep most of their shares in the firm [...]
Small lenders fear new rules only aid giants October 22, 2012 FINANCIAL regulators are failing to promote competition in the banking sector and perpetuating the “too big to fail” problem, a small bank claimed yesterday, by favouring big lenders under new capital requirements. Paul Lynam, chief executive of Secure Trust Bank, pointed to Sir John Vickers’ proposals allowing a large bank to risk-weight mortgages at five [...]
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 [...]