City slams tax raid on banks February 8, 2011 GEORGE Osborne’s shock move to hike his special tax on banks’ balance sheets was slammed by institutions and economists yesterday. They warned it would exacerbate the uncertainty hanging over the sector, making it harder for banks to budget, and constraining their ability to lend. The rate hike means the financial sector will have to pay [...]
Merlin talks still on target, says Treasury February 8, 2011 GEORGE Osborne yesterday announced an £800m hike in this year’s bank levy, in a surprise move designed to “clear the decks” before the government signs a flagship agreement on lending and bonuses with the banks. The chancellor initially planned to introduce the £2.5bn-a-year levy at a reduced rate in 2011, yielding £1.7bn from the Treasury [...]
CHANGES TO THE BANK LEVY February 8, 2011 Q.WHICH BANKS WILL BE HIT BY THE LEVY? A.The revised levy will apply to UK banks on all equities and liabilities after a £20bn allowance is reached. It applies the same rules to the UK operations of foreign banks. HOW MATERIAL IS TODAY’S CHANGE? Initially, the rate that banks pay will be increased to 0.1 [...]
ARM suffers after bad note February 8, 2011 ARM shares dropped 2.62 per cent yesterday after Barclays Capital downgraded the stock from ‘overweight’ to ‘equalweight’, saying that, for the first time in years, the firm’s stock was fairly valued. He also raised his target for the stock from 370p to 650p. The downgrade followed a massive sale of stock by ARM chief technology [...]
American job openings slow February 8, 2011 US job openings slipped in December, according to official data released yesterday, but a decline in layoffs supported views of a gradual labour market recovery. Job openings, a measure of labour demand, eased 139,000 to 3.1m, according to a monthly labour market survey. “Yet the overall trend of this series still appears to be upward,” [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 8, 2011 Alvarez & Marsal The global professional services and turnaround consulting firm managing the Lehman Brothers Holdings bankruptcy has strengthened its European financial services group with the appointment of managing director Nils Melngailis (pictured), who joins from Parex Bank. Senior directors Agnès Hugot and Jose de Ochoa and senior associates Heiko Logisch and Ardeshir Mistri also [...]
FTSE dips as banks come under pressure February 8, 2011 The FTSE 100 dipped this morning despite strong results from Xstrata and BG Group. The index has gained in four out of the last five trading sessions – regularly surpassing the 6,000 barrier, but banking stocks were among the poorest performers today. Commodities dipped as the price of copper came down after a record high [...]
Consumer credit spikes in US February 7, 2011 American consumers boosted their credit card debt in December for the first time since August 2008, official data showed yesterday. Revolving credit card debt climbed by $3.5bn (£2.16bn), while total credit outstanding climbed $6.1bn, well above the expectations of most economists. “We expect the headline series to increase further in the coming months,” said Barclays’ [...]
Rexam stock jumps on talk of £200m sale deal February 7, 2011 SHARES in Rexam soared yesterday after the British can maker confirmed plans to sell its beverage and specialties arm in a deal that could be worth £200m. The shares rose nearly five per cent in early trading, before closing the day up 3.4 per cent from Friday’s close at 368.9p. Rexam is believed to have [...]
Qinetiq secures early refinancing to aid growth during defence spending cuts February 7, 2011 DEFENCE technology group QinetiQ said yesterday it has completed the early refinancing of its £275m credit facility to help the firm advance amid looming cuts to government defence budgets and an ongoing restructuring. FTSE 250-listed QinetiQ has renewed the revolving facility, which was due to mature in August 2012, with a syndicate of banks made [...]