M&A deals at lowest since 2003 November 8, 2011 THE UK’s share of mergers and takeovers globally has slumped to the lowest on record as just five per cent of world deals now involve UK target companies, data from Dealogic yesterday showed. Dealmaking in the UK this year has been worth only $116.3bn (£72.6bn), 14 per cent lower than in the same period in [...]
Turmoil hits Lansdowne as hedgies falter November 7, 2011 MORE evidence of the struggles of the hedge fund industry has emerged as Lansdowne Partners admitted recording losses of up to 20 per cent at two of its key funds. Lansdowne, which manages $13.3bn (£8.31bn) and is one of many City institutions to have hired Tony Blair after he left Downing Street, has been caught [...]
Markets hit by Eurozone contagion fears November 7, 2011 Banks were the weakest link on the FTSE 100 this morning as the move towards a coalition government in Greece failed to impress wary investors. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, who attempted to call a referendum on a crucial European Union bailout plan, will stand down when the new government takes over. Eurozone ministers meet [...]
RBS profits up but warns over more pain to come November 4, 2011 Royal Bank of Scotland has posted pre-tax profits of £2bn in the three months to 30 September, compared with a loss of £1.6bn in the same period last year. RBS followed the likes of Barclays and Morgan Stanley in benefiting from a debt accounting gain, which boosted its earnings by £2.3bn and helped offset lower [...]
New ECB president cuts rates November 3, 2011 MARIO Draghi, the new president of the European Central Bank, cut interest rates at his first meeting in charge yesterday in an effort to head off a “mild recession” in the Eurozone. The benchmark interest rate was cut from 1.5 per cent to 1.25 per cent in a move that surprised markets, who had expected [...]
WPP sells $500m of notes November 3, 2011 Advertising giant WPP yesterday raised $500m through the sale of 10-year senior unsecured bonds. It is understood the company will use the proceeds to refinance its existing debt. Barclays Capital, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland are thought to have led the sale, with BNP Paribas and Citigroup co-managing. The [...]
Canary Wharf gets court order November 3, 2011 THE MAKESHIFT campsite filled with a motley group of protesters will not be allowed to spill over into Canary Wharf after its owners won a High Court injunction. It was feared the headquarters of Barclays and HSBC could be targeted next after an astonishing U-turn by St Paul’s and the City of London Corporation, who [...]
Barclays’ Bob Diamond advises the banks to show more remorse November 3, 2011 BOB Diamond, the chief executive of Barclays, told a BBC lecture yesterday that bankers still needed to accept responsibility for the errors behind the financial crisis. In a remarkable U-turn from his answers to the Treasury Select Committee in January, when he said bankers should stop apologising for the crisis, Diamond warned that banks had [...]
FTSE weak as investors eye G20 November 3, 2011 The FTSE 100 tracked falls in Asia as leaders of the world’s biggest economies gathered in France for a G20 summit set to be dominated by the threat of Greece falling out of the Eurozone. The leaders of France and Germany, angered at Greece’s shock move to call a referendum on its latest bail-out plan [...]
Quitting at the top is a very rare occurrence November 2, 2011 CHIEF executives stepping down for health reasons are a rare breed, despite their gruelling schedules and the intense pressure mounted on them. Andy Hornby’s departure from Alliance Boots less than a year after accepting the job shocked the business world. Executive chairman Stefano Pessina later revealed Hornby was suffering from stress and had probably returned [...]