FTSE slips lower but profits from StanChart help cheer March 2, 2011 RALLYING banks boosted by results from Standard Chartered helped Britain’s top share index pare losses yesterday, but the index still closed lower as geopolitical concerns continued to dog sentiment. The FTSE 100 closed down 20.87 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,914.89, as lingering political concerns in the Arab world continued to dent confidence and [...]
FTSE finishes in the red despite late rally March 2, 2011 The FTSE slumped below the 5,900 mark this morning on continued Middle East unrest fears, but recovered ground after a boost to Wall St. The FTSE 100 still closed the day below 6,000, though, 0.35 per cent down at 5,914.89. It has lost ground in eight of the last nine sessions. Michael Hewson said the [...]
What the other papers say this morning March 1, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES TOP 10 HEDGE FUNDS MAKE $28BN The top 10 hedge funds made $28bn for clients in the second half of last year, $2bn more than the net profits of Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Barclays and HSBC combined, according to new data. Even the biggest of the hedge funds have only a [...]
Senior HSBC bankers in London get half the pay of those abroad March 1, 2011 SENIOR HSBC bankers based in London are getting less than half the pay of their non-UK counterparts, figures released by the bank have shown. UK-based senior staff pocketed an average of £1.22m in total pay last year, of which £927,000 was bonus payments, whereas equivalent staff based outside the UK took home more than double [...]
Citi sells Egg credit cards to Barclays March 1, 2011 BARCLAYS is buying the UK credit card portfolio of Egg from the online bank’s US owner Citi, transferring more than 1m customer accounts to the Barclaycard brand. The value of the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, has not been disclosed, but Barclay’s said it was buying the assets at a “significant discount” to [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 1, 2011 Safestore Holdings The self-storage retailer has appointed Peter Gowers as chief executive, following the retirement of his predecessor Steve Williams. Gowers, 38, joins from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), where most recently he was chief executive, Asia Pacific. Gowers began his career at Arthur D. Little before joining the strategy group of Bass in 1999. He [...]
Barclays to buy Egg credit card assets March 1, 2011 Barclays is to buy the British credit card assets of online bank Egg from US lender Citigroup for an undisclosed price, as part of plans to boost its retail banking business. “The acquisition of Egg’s UK credit card accounts has been priced at a significant discount to gross receivables. Based on current projections, we expect [...]
Chicago boom looks good for US factories February 28, 2011 CHICAGO’S purchasing managers’ index (PMI) reached a 22-year high in February, surprising economists and boding well for today’s US-wide manufacturing results. The PMI hit 71.2 this month, driven upwards by growth in production and new orders, which reached their highest level – 75.9 – since 1983. All index scores above 50 indicate economic expansion. “This [...]
Eurozone inflation revised down but oil and food costs expected to weigh February 28, 2011 INFLATION in the Eurozone was revised down to an annual rate of 2.3 per cent in January, yesterday – surprising economists who had expected it to be held at the earlier estimate of 2.4 per cent. However, strong pressures from oil and food prices are expected to increase the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP) [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 28, 2011 Amlin The insurance group has appointed Andreas Luberichs, formerly of Chubb Europe, to the new role of group head of underwriting. Luberichs joins on 7 March as a member of the group executive management team and will be based in the London headquarters. Luberichs has spent the past seventeen years of his twenty year career [...]