Tesco’s Philip Clarke waives annual bonus May 22, 2012 PHILIP CLARKE, Tesco’s chief executive, said he would forgo his £372,000 annual bonus after the retailer’s weak UK performance last year prompted its first profit warning in 20 years. “I decided at the beginning of the year that I would decline my annual bonus for 2012,” Clarke said in a statement yesterday. “I wasn’t satisfied [...]
Facebook shares decline deflates internet banking star May 22, 2012 HOTSHOT Morgan Stanley banker Michael Grimes is the target of some angry finger pointing after Facebook’s share price fall since its debut on Friday. In many ways he shouldn’t be surprised. In the run-up to the float, Grimes was the subject of a number of press reports extolling his prominence in the technology sector, detailing [...]
Renminbi marketing blitz planned May 22, 2012 The UK, China and banks with big operations in both countries are planning a marketing blitz to encourage firms to take advantage of new freedom to settle trades in renminbi, Beijing’s currency. At a meeting of the London Forum, which includes government representatives and envoys from HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered among others, discussion focused on [...]
Miners push up FTSE 100 May 22, 2012 Britain’s leading share index jumped yesterday, driven by gains in mining stocks as the demand picture for metals was brightened by hopes of fresh moves by China to boost its economy. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 98.80 points – or 1.9 per cent – at 5,403.28 points, adding strongly to Monday’s 0.7 per cent [...]
Tesco chief turns down £372,000 bonus May 22, 2012 Tesco boss Philip Clarke has opted not to take an annual bonus of about £372,000 following a poor performance by the world’s third-biggest retailer in its main British market. Shares in Tesco, which issued a shock profit warning in January, have lost almost a quarter of their value this year and the company is now [...]
FTSE rises fuelled by miners May 22, 2012 The FTSE 100 picked up again this morning as some of last week’s losses were recouped. Hopes that Eurozone leaders were making progress as they tackled the debt mountain engulfing the bloc helped sentiment. One of the ideas to save struggling economies is to issue eurobonds. But an OECD report warned that the fragile global [...]
Barclays to sell £3.8bn stake in BlackRock May 21, 2012 BARCLAYS has decided to sell its $6.1bn (£3.8bn) stake in investment manager BlackRock because new regulatory requirements mean the asset cannot generate a decent return. BlackRock itself has agreed to buy back $1bn of the stock, which Barclays acquired in 2009 in part-payment for its sale of Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock. The bank has now [...]
London not yet in the race for Facebook type flotations May 21, 2012 WITH financial markets in a state of nervousness, the $104bn Facebook flotation appeared to be a godsend for the few investment banks involved. So far this year, investment banks’ equity advisory teams have had a pretty rotten time. The year all started promisingly enough, with the Italian bank Unicredit managing to get a £6bn rights [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 21, 2012 DFJ Esprit The cross-stage venture capital firm has appointed Peter Keen as its a new venture partner, specialising in medtech and life science investments. Keen joins with 28 years’ experience in the sector. He was co-founder of Chriscience Group, chief financial officer of Arakis, and is currently non-executive director of Horizon Discovery and Q-Chip. Jefferies [...]
Companies don’t pay taxes – but employees, owners and customers do May 21, 2012 THIS WEEK sees the launch of The Single Income Tax – the final report of the 2020 Tax Commission. As one of the commissioners, I’m proud of the result: a 417-page blockbuster of thorough analysis and sensible, yet radical, reforms. A Single Income Tax would ensure that taxes were cut to 33 per cent of [...]