Agius: 50p tax makes it harder to keep talent in London February 15, 2011 THE 50p top tax rate makes it harder to retain talent in London, Barclays chairman Marcus Agius told City A.M. yesterday. He also said the bank’s “regretted losses” – staff that it has lost despite efforts to prevent them leaving – have risen, adding: “Competition for talent is fierce.” UK banks face a particularly difficult struggle to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES JERSEY AND ISLE OF MAN OFFER TAX SOP TO BRUSSELS Jersey and the Isle of Man have announced changes to their corporate tax regimes in an effort to neutralise criticism from Brussels. Both crown dependencies said they were withdrawing laws that aim to stop local shareholders from avoiding personal income tax by rolling [...]
Diamond: low returns will be banished February 15, 2011 BARCLAYS chief executive Bob Diamond promised rigorous action to bring up the bank’s returns at its full-year results presentation yesterday, saying that “there are no sacred cows” in his cost-cutting. Diamond was keen to address the bank’s “unacceptable” return on equity of 7.2 per cent in 2010, announcing a target of 13 per cent by [...]
Pressure on Bob to deliver a miracle February 15, 2011 CHIEF executive Bob Diamond’s grand promise of a six per cent rise in returns in three years was greeted with incredulity in some circles yesterday. Evolution Securities’ Arturo de Frias decried the promise, saying: “We find all this way too bullish, and very difficult to believe… We don’t believe in ‘miracles.’” The plans rely on [...]
Pay down at Barclays despite rise in earnings February 15, 2011 BARCLAYS’ results revealed yesterday that pay declined seven per cent in 2010, falling by more at its investment banking division Barclays Capital, by 12 per cent. Overall, however, the bank’s compensation ratio of pay to revenues was up to 43 per cent, with average pay rising nearly £30,000 to £229,000. Chief executive Bob Diamond blamed [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE BARCLAYS RESULTS? February 15, 2011 DAVID BUIK | BGC PARTNERS The profits were quite a bit better than expected. The pre-tax profit was £6.07bn against expectations of £5.7bn. The net for year was £3.56bn against £3.2bn. Tier one capital came in at a pleasing 10.8 per cent up from 10 per cent. RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Barclays has opened [...]
IHG raises its dividend as hotels boom February 15, 2011 InterContinental Hotels, the world’s biggest hotelier, showed confidence in economic recovery by lifting its final dividend for the first time in three years and set a target for opening more hotels. The British group, home to the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn brands, met forecasts with a 22 per cent rise in 2010 profit, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 15, 2011 Barclays Sally Bott has joined the bank as group human resources director and member of the executive committee. Bott will start her role in April, replacing Cathy Turner. She joins from BP, where she was HR director, and has also recently served as a non-exec board member at UBS. Before this, she was managing director [...]
Commodities dent FTSE 100 despite strong banking stocks February 15, 2011 BRITAIN’S s top share index closed lower yesterday as strength in banking stocks, inspired by forecast-busting results from Barclays, was outweighed by a broad retreat in the mining sector on commodity price wobbles. The FTSE 100 index closed down 23.01 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6,037.08. The FTSE 250, FTSE 350 and AIM 100 [...]
CANADA’S STRONG ECONOMY OPENS ITSELF UP TO FOREIGN INVESTMENT February 15, 2011 HEAD OF PRODUCT, BARCLAYS STOCKBROKERS Last week, the London Stock Exchange struck a deal with TMX Group, the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The deal looks likely to reduce costs for users, offer greater levels of liquidity and provide broader access to mining and natural resources stocks. For investors, this is particularly attractive at [...]