Consultancies will help to decide size of bailout June 10, 2012 SPAIN has refused to say how much cash its ailing banks need until audits from two consultancies, Oliver Wyman and Roland Berger, have been completed. While the IMF has already estimated that Spanish banks need a capital injection of between €40bn and €80bn (£32.4bn and £64.7bn) under its own stress tests, Madrid has decided to [...]
Decision close on £1.3bn bids for London Metal Exchange June 10, 2012 THE final bidders are vying for the London Metal Exchange and a winner could be chosen as soon as today. InterContinental Exchange (ICE) and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEx) are both believed to have tabled bids of around £1.3bn for the 135-year-old LME, the City’s last open-outcry trading pit. Directors are expected to vote [...]
City’s top dogs race for Sport Relief triathlon June 10, 2012 AS if the City was not competitive enough, dozens of chief executives yesterday donned their trainers and swimming caps in aid of Sport Relief. Organised by Phil Smith, chief executive of Cisco UK and Ireland, the Leaderboard Triathlon Challenge put over 30 business bosses through their paces in the grounds of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. And [...]
BEST of the BROKERS June 10, 2012 J SAINSBURY Shore Capital rates the retailer “hold” with a target price of 288p ahead of the firm’s first quarter trading statement on Wednesday. The update will provide the first glimpse of how the big supermarkets fared during the Diamond Jubilee, and the broker suggests that the wet weather could have dampened the expected sales [...]
Hunt for treasure you enjoy – at least you’ll get emotional returns June 10, 2012 TO MANY, a report on “treasure” might not sound intrinsically financial, conjuring images of pirates, shipwrecks and chests stuffed with gold doubloons. However, owning items that are financially valuable, emotionally pleasing and culturally significant is a timeless tradition that shows no sign of abating. Treasure assets – items such as precious jewellery, fine art, wine, [...]
Banks and miners lead FTSE lower June 8, 2012 Miners and banks led the FTSE down in early trading as investors shunned riskier assets and ran for cover as global economic growth stutters. The fall tracked losses on Wall Street yesterday and Asia overnight despite an initial boost after China cut its interest rates in an attempt to accelerate its growth. But US Federal [...]
Supplier saves 4,500 jobs at Clinton Cards June 7, 2012 THE REMAINS of the high street chain Clinton Cards were bought out of administration yesterday by an American cards company, in a deal expected to safeguard 4,500 jobs. Administrator Zolfo Cooper confirmed yesterday that American Greetings, one of Clinton’s biggest suppliers, had paid $37m (£24m) to buy the ailing retailer’s brand and assets including 397 [...]
Barclays invests in Namibia June 7, 2012 Barclays plans to buy a 49.9 per cent stake in Namibia’s second-largest lender by assets, Bank Windhoek, the country’s central bank said yesterday, in a deal that gives the British lender a presence in the south-western African country. The value of the potential deal had not been determined as Barclays was yet to start talks [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 7, 2012 Marsh & McLennan Mark Weil has joined the insurance broker and risk adviser as chief executive. He will oversee Marsh’s UK and Ireland operations. Weil graduated from the University of Cambridge with an engineering degree and has 15 years of consulting experience with Marsh’s sister company Oliver Wyman. Eruma Nicolas Marks has joined the specialist [...]
FTSE jumps as Chinese rate cut and UK services stats hearten traders June 7, 2012 BRITAIN’S top shares hit a three-week high yesterday as China’s surprise move to cut interest rates and firm UK services sector data boosted investors’ appetite for risk, although charts signalled strong resistance on the way up. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s comments that her country stood ready to use the existing instruments already created in the [...]