Resolution agrees £2.75bn deal for Axa unit June 24, 2010 AXA has agreed to sell part of its UK life-insurance unit to Resolution for £2.75bn. Resolution, run by Clive Cowdery, aims to merge the AXA divisions with Friends Provident, the life insurance business bought last year for £1.86bn. The investment vehicle said its leading shareholders had agreed to sub-underwrite 52 percent of the cash call, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES NISSAN’S GHOSN TOPS JAPAN PAY LEAGUE Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn has taken top spot on a list of Japan’s best-paid executives after the carmaker revealed it paid its Brazil-born chief executive Y890m ($9.9m) last year. Nissan and other quoted Japanese companies are being forced to report the compensation of individual executives for the first [...]
Two-week low for the FTSE as metals and miners tumble June 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index hit a near two-week closing low yesterday as retreating metals prices and downbeat broker sentiment pressured mining stocks and with investors’ moods darkened by weak US homes sales data. The FTSE 100 index closed down 68.46 points, or 1.3 per cent, at 5,178.52, its lowest close since 11 June, having lost [...]
Great progress on the deficit – but far too many unnecessary tax hikes June 22, 2010 WE?were told to expect a tough Budget, with lots of pain, and that was exactly what we got. Many of the policies announced were necessary; others, however, are clearly misguided. On balance, however, this Budget will leave Britain in a stronger position –?not something that could usually be said of the previous government’s efforts. George [...]
Diamond: Lehman creditors gained from Barclays bid June 22, 2010 Barclays president Bob Diamond said yesterday Lehman creditors fared better under his bank’s purchase of Lehman Brothers core US brokerage business than they would have if the assets had been sold on the open market. The testimony came on the second day of a trial over whether the British bank received an unfair $11bn windfall [...]
Hammerson offloads £135m Docklands office June 22, 2010 REAL estate investor Hammerson has sold Docklands office block Exchange Tower to MPGA Europe Fund III for £134.6m. The sale represents a 74 per cent return on the £77m Hammerson paid for the 16-storey tower in 1999, on top of annual rents of up to £10.7m over the course of its 11-year ownership. Its main [...]
Lloyds misses brunt of £2bn levy on banks June 22, 2010 STATE-OWNED Lloyds Banking Group emerged as the relative winner from an annual £2bn levy on banks’ balance sheets announced yesterday. The tax will apply to British banks and building societies, such as Barclays and the Skipton, and the UK operations of foreign institutions like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. From January 2011, banks will be charged [...]
THE BANK TAX EXPLAINED June 22, 2010 Q.WHICH INSTITUTIONS WILL THE TAX APPLY TO? A.The levy will be based on the balance sheets of UK?banks and building societies, the UK branches of foreign banks and the foreign branches of UK banks. For example, Société Générale’s operation in London will be hit the same as Barclays Capital’s unit in Paris. Q.WHY IS THE [...]
Budget brings down bank shares but delay in VAT rise gives retailers a boost June 22, 2010 WEAKER commodity stocks pulled Britain’s top share index lower yesterday, while retailers got a lift from the first emergency Budget from Britain’s new coalition government after an expected valued added tax rise was delayed. At the close, the FTSE was down 52.1 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,246.98, having hit its highest closing level [...]
Barclays boss rejects claim June 21, 2010 BARCLAYS president Bob Diamond was labelled “evasive” by a US judge yesterday as the legal clash between the British bank and parties representing Lehman Brothers intensified. Testifying before a bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Diamond accepted Barclays took Lehman Brothers’ US brokerage at a good price “in the context of the turmoil in the financial markets”, [...]