Banks miss small firms loan target of Project Merlin May 22, 2011 THE UK’s five largest banks have failed to meet a Project Merlin target for making £76bn of credit available to small and medium size businesses (SMEs) this year, the Bank of England is set to reveal today. Preliminary figures showed that in the first three months of the year, the banks – RBS, Lloyds, Barclay, [...]
RAINMAKING WON’T STOP PLAY AT CITY’S CHELSEA POWER SHOW May 22, 2011 TONIGHT the worlds of high finance and horticulture will collide at the most popular fixture in the City year: the Chelsea Flower Show charity gala. BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch was spotted eyeing up garden sheds at last year’s Chelsea preview, while Topshop boss Sir Philip Green – known in the City as “PG” – [...]
Phadia nets Cinven £2.5bn May 19, 2011 BUY-OUT group Cinven has sold Phadia, a maker of allergy and auto-immune tests, to Thermo Fisher Scientific for €2.47bn (£2.18bn), it announced yesterday. Cinven paid €1.29bn for Sweden-based Phadia in January 2007, and has expanded the firm’s US and Asian market shares. The deal, set to close in the fourth-quarter, is expected to increase Thermo’s [...]
Care home firm reveals profit slump May 19, 2011 EMBATTLED care homes operator Southern Cross yesterday said it hopes to turn its fortunes around, despite revealing a £311m half-year loss. The UK’s largest care homes provider has been squeezed by a fall in the number of patients placed by local authorities and a real terms cut in fees, due to public sector austerity. Revenues [...]
Goldman tops list for global M&A May 19, 2011 GOLDMAN Sachs is the top bank for global mergers and acquisitions (M&A), having advised on deals worth $297.5bn (£183.8bn) so far this year. The Wall Street giant pips rival JP Morgan to the top of a list of global banks, according to data provider Dealogic. JP Morgan has advised on deals worth $281bn so far [...]
Economic indicators slip in the US May 19, 2011 The index of US leading indicators, which gauges the economic outlook three to six months ahead, fell 0.3 per cent in April, from an upwardly revised 0.7 per cent gain in March. The result “indicates perhaps some moderation but not, in our view, a significant slowdown”, according to Nicholas Tenev of Barclays Capital.
Broadbent drops no clues over intentions May 17, 2011 NEW Bank of England interest rate setter Ben Broadbent left analysts none the wiser over his voting intentions yesterday, in a cautious testimony to the Treasury Select Committee. The former Goldman Sachs economist told the committee he was “not entirely sure” how he would have voted this month, refusing to signal any leaning towards a [...]
Cameron: Banks face more levies if Merlin fails May 17, 2011 BRITAIN’S banks could face a barrage of new bank levies and taxes if they fail to keep credit flowing in line with the Merlin deal struck with the Treasury, Prime Minister David Cameron has warned. Speaking before a committee of MPs, Cameron said that banks could face “further bank levies, taxes, bonus taxes and all [...]
German investors’ morale dips May 17, 2011 German stocks were hit yesterday as the Zew index pointed to another drop in investors’ confidence. The index of sentiment over the coming six months fell to 3.1, from 7.1 in April – its lowest level since November last year, although still above the long run average. The measure of current economic conditions improved, hitting [...]
The European sovereign debt bomb is ticking May 17, 2011 JEAN-CLAUDE Juncker, chairman of the Eurozone’s finance ministers, said yesterday that Greece may have to ask investors to either extend the maturities of its bonds or agree to a soft restructuring. This follows on from the Greek foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas saying that the country was open to soft debt restructuring if needed. But in [...]