Banks buoyed by Abu Dhabi move for RBS stake March 27, 2012 Banks fuelled FTSE 100 gains this morning after the sector was lifted by reports that Abu Dhabi was considering making a bid for RBS assets. Talks between Abu Dhabi and the British government over a stake in state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland are at the level of the Abu Dhabi ruling family, a source close [...]
Barclays has “encouraging” start to year says Diamond March 27, 2012 Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond said the bank has had an “encouraging” start to the year, across key areas such as retail and investment banking. Commercial and investment banking had enjoyed a “pleasing” increase in volumes, continuing a strong January, Diamond told Reuters, repeating comments made to analysts and investors at a Morgan Stanley conference. [...]
Energy stocks lift FTSE March 26, 2012 Energy stocks gave the FTSE 100 index renewed impetus in early trading but gains were limited by weaker miners and banks. Fears over China’s growth are still casting a shadow over commodity stocks while banks are still struggling to maintain upward momentum. Aberdeen Asset Management was the top riser, up 2.4 per cent as the [...]
Game Group’s lenders mull a rescue deal March 25, 2012 GAME GROUP’S lenders, led by The Royal Bank of Scotland, are working on plans that could result in them buying the crisis-hit video games retailer out of administration. The company, which runs 1,274 stores worldwide and employs 10,000 workers – 6,000 of them in the UK – is expected to fall into administration as early [...]
Ex-City professional one step ahead of the cloud March 25, 2012 FROM growing up in the Rossendale valley – the once beating heart of the industrial revolution – Piers Linney is now a man with many strings to his bow: law, accounting, banking, media, finance and entrepreneurship. Now he has his head in cloud computing – a technological revolution with the scalability to turn over billions. [...]
FTSE edges up despite retail fears March 23, 2012 The FTSE 100 bounced back in early trading after falls mainly triggered by miners who are fearful of a slowdown of growth in China. However, gains were minimal with the tough climate for UK retailers being laid bare by data from Nationwide today showing that consumer morale is weakening. Blue chip retailer Kingfisher, which owns [...]
Analysts blame Mervyn King for economy’s credit drought March 22, 2012 THE BANK of England is creating a “corrosive” environment for credit, according to analysts at UBS, while its claim that regulations are not to blame for choking off lending “holds no water”, they said. Respected banking analysts John-Paul Crutchley and Alastair Ryan accuse BoE governor Mervyn King of failing to recognise that if bank shares do [...]
Glencore deal bonanza helps prop up a struggling market March 22, 2012 THE M&A MARKET might be moribund in 2012, but a handful of massive deals have helped prop up activity figures – and the rankings of several top banks. Glencore’s long-awaited advances on Xstrata in February added $48.9bn to Thomson Reuters’ M&A values for the first quarter of the year. And the army of banks working [...]
TNT Post bids to rival Royal Mail’s service March 22, 2012 TNT POST is further encroaching on Royal Mail territory by launching an end-to-end delivery trial in London as part of a long-term plan to rival the government-owned postal service. Following a successful trial in Liverpool, TNT postal workers will hit the streets of west London from mid-April to test the waters for extending the company’s [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 22, 2012 Allanfield The specialist insurance broker has announced the appointments of Paul Leader and Paul Williams as managing directors of companies in the Allanfield Group. Leader joins in June from global insurance broker HW Wood, where he was director with responsibility for the real estate and commercial teams. Williams joins, with immediate effect, from Gallagher Health [...]