France cuts growth forecasts September 26, 2011 Official estimates for France’s GDP growth in the three years to 2015 have been cut. The government now anticipates growth of two per cent, rather than 2.5 per year. Growth for 2011 and 2012 is expected to come in at 1.75 per cent. Analysts at Barclays Capital believe the figures still “remain on the optimistic [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 26, 2011 Linklaters David Cheyne will stay on at the law firm as a consultant in an active client-facing role, after his term as senior partner comes to an end on 30 September. Cheyne joined Linklaters in 1972 and became a partner in 1980. He was global head of the firm’s corporate department from 2000 to 2005, [...]
Banks rally on hope of action to fix the Eurozone debt crisis September 26, 2011 AFTER a tumultuous session, strong financials hauled Britain’s top shares into positive territory yesterday as investors, spurred by hopes for decisive action to deal with the Eurozone debt crisis, sought out bargains in the beaten-down sector. The UK benchmark ended up 22.56 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,089.37, having vacillated sharply between positive and [...]
Global markets dragged down by Eurozone crisis September 26, 2011 Gains by banks were outweighed by heavy losses among miners in early trading today as Eurozone bailout fears and bleak forecasts on world economic growth cast a shadow over markets. After last week’s rollercoaster ride, volatility looked set to continue as Eurozone leaders conceded that they would have to pump in trillions to have an [...]
Asda’s bid for Iceland warms up with Barcap September 25, 2011 ASDA appears to have moved closer to a bid for frozen food chain Iceland by lining up backing from Barclays Capital. It comes after Asda, Britain’s second-largest supermarket, brought on board advisers from Lazard in June to help it put together an offer. Iceland’s current owner, the resolution committee of collapsed bank Landsbanki, needs to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 25, 2011 West Pioneer Properties The developer and operator of shopping centres and mixed use developments in west and south India has appointed Chris Hough as a non-executive director. Hough, 52, has a career spanning 34 years, both in the UK and overseas. Hough has worked on the Broadgate development and the Imperial War Museum, and has [...]
Volatile trading and uncertainty are set to persist September 25, 2011 AFTER another roller-coaster week, which was the second-worst of the year for the FTSE 100, the only really safe call this morning is for the volatility to rumble on. Despite repeated international assurances that action will be taken to preserve financial stability and restore economic growth, the markets start another week without anything definite on [...]
Buy-outs slump as morale takes a knock in 2011 September 25, 2011 WEAKENING business confidence has seen the value of UK buy-outs slump this year, according to research published yesterday. Buy-outs in the first three quarters came to £7.8bn, down from £13bn over the same period last year, the Centre for Management Buyout Research said. The three months to September have seen the most significant drop in [...]
THE TIPSTER September 25, 2011 SHARES in Dominos Pizza tumbled below 500p on Friday. However, spread betters have been in a largely positive mood ahead of the firm’s results on Wednesday. The long-term trend has been upwards for the firm over the past year, as penny-pinching Britons shun meals out for takeaway pizzas at home. Traders were anticipating longer-term gains [...]
FTSE closes narrowly up after fight back from banks September 23, 2011 A strong rebound in banking stocks saw the FTSE end higher on Friday after a turbulent week, with investors pinning hopes on more action from the European Central Bank to deal with the region’s debt crisis. As traders cited market talk of help from France with some form of capital injection to bolster French banks’ [...]