FTSE tumbles on US and Europe debt fears November 21, 2011 UK and European stocks fell today as the failure of a US government committee to agree on sweeping spending cuts revived fears over out-of-control sovereign debt. The bipartisan US congressional committee is expected to admit today that it cannot agree on a plan to cut back spending by $1.2 trillion (£760m) over the next decade [...]
Compass to give £500m to investors November 20, 2011 COMPASS, the catering firm, will reveal plans this week to return up to £500m to shareholders by buying back shares. Analysts expect the group, which serves four billion meals each year in more than 50 countries, to announce the buyback alongside its full-year results, with profits expected to exceed £1bn. In a recent trading update [...]
Engineering giant Tomkins closes in on $550m sale of its tyre safety business November 20, 2011 ENGINEERING giant Tomkins is closing in on a sale of its tyre safety arm, with a string of private equity firms understood to be monitoring the asset. The firm’s valves and gauges business could also be hived off in what would be a major restructuring of Tomkins’ Northern Irish business, according to the Sunday Telegraph. [...]
Markets dragged down by weak banks November 18, 2011 The FTSE 100 edged lower today as the ongoing crisis with Eurozone debt continued to sap investor confidence, particularly in banks. Across Europe markets slumped, with the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares down 0.7 per cent in early trading. It is on course to fall more than three per cent over the week, [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS November 17, 2011 TADHG FLOOD AND JAMES ARCULUS DEUTSCHE BANK ITS latest mandate advising UK Financial Investments and Northern Rock on the bank’s sale to Virgin Money is one in a string of government deals secured by Deutsche Bank. Most notably, Deutsche made hay advising HM Treasury during the bail-outs of Lloyds, Halifax Bank of Scotland and RBS in [...]
IRELAND AUCTIONS BUST TYCOON’S ART TO PAY OFF SUB-PRIME DEBTS November 17, 2011 DEREK Quinlan is not a name you will have read much about recently, after the troubled property tycoon decided to lie low on the shores of Lake Geneva while he contemplated his sizeable debts to Anglo Irish Bank. But he was back in the spotlight yesterday, when Quinlan’s $2.8m art collection came under the hammer [...]
FTSE hit by soaring bank yields November 17, 2011 The FTSE 100 fell in early trading today as yields on a Spanish bond auction soared to almost seven per cent – a level considered unsustainable by economists. A warning from ratings agency Fitch that the outlook for US banks could deteriorate if the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis is not resolved also took its toll. [...]
FTSE falls as Eurozone fear factor hits banks November 15, 2011 The FTSE edged down this morning, mirroring weaknesses in Asia, as rises in bond yields in Spain and Italy heaped more pressure on markets. Italy sold three billion euros of five-year bonds at 6.29 per cent yesterday – a euro-era record. The country’s 10-year bond yields rose to 6.76 per cent, also pushing Spanish 10-year [...]
Merlin target hit yet banks face criticism November 14, 2011 UK BANKS are on track to meet their lending targets set by Project Merlin, the Bank of England confirmed yesterday, but critics attacked the figures as meaningless, with some business groups calling for more credit to stimulate growth. Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS and Santander made £57.4bn available to businesses in the UK in the third [...]
TUC attacks funds on salaries November 14, 2011 Remuneration is the topic most likely to stir up disagreement between company management and institutional investors, according to a study released today by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) today. However, the report also found bank remuneration was particularly strongly supported. Barclays led the field with 75 per cent of fund managers backing its remuneration. The [...]