Business lending in January slumps at fastest annual rate since records begin March 18, 2010 LENDING to businesses fell at its fastest annual rate in January since records began more than a decade ago, figures from the Bank of England (BoE) showed yesterday. The flow of net lending fell £6.5bn in January, nearly twice as fast as in December, the BoE said in its Trends in Lending report. That pushed [...]
FSA recruits two new female board members March 18, 2010 BAIGRIE Davies director Amanda Davidson and Dame Sandra Dawson, professor of management at Cambridge University have joined the Financial Services Authority (FSA) board as non-executive directors. Ethical investment specialist Davidson has been a director of Baigrie Davies since 2005. She was also a founding director of Chase de Vere and held a directorship at Holden [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 18, 2010 Avoca Capital Holdings The European credit investment manager has hired Clayton Perry, formerly principal and managing director at Broadchalk Advisors, as its new chief operating officer. Prior to establishing Broadchalk, Perry was head of global collateralised loan obligation (CLO) business at Credit Suisse, responsible for CLO transactions in the US and Europe. The appointment comes [...]
FTSE closes flat as miners and banks fall, while pharmaceuticals gather pace March 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares ended flat yesterday as banks and miners paused for breath after recent gains, offsetting a rally in drugmakers and energy stocks. The FTSE 100 finished almost unchanged at 5,642.62, having closed at a 21-month closing peak on Wednesday. Banks and miners slipped after recent strong gains, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland [...]
GLIMMERS OF HOPE WITHIN THE UK’S SLUGGISH RECOVERY March 17, 2010 IT seems that every week the UK economy clocks up more evidence of its disappointing recovery from the recession. The spectre of a hung parliament and a mountainous fiscal deficit is only adding to the image of the UK as the sick man of Europe. And the UK does indeed look sick. It can’t even [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 17, 2010 CB Richard Ellis Jonathan De Mello is to join the property group as head of its retail consultancy team, effective from April. De Mello is one of the most respected analysts in the retail sector and joins from the Experian Property Consultancy. His consultancy clients have included the likes of Blackstone Private Equity, Henderson Global [...]
Banks and commodities gain strength after S&P reassures on Greek debt March 16, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares gained 0.5 per cent yesterday lifted by strength in banks and commodity issues after reassuring news on Greece’s debt situation and as investors awaited the outcome of a US Federal Reserve meeting. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 26.58 points higher at 5,620.43, having closed 0.6 per cent lower on Monday. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 16, 2010 UBS JP Morgan reiterates it’s “overweight” stance on UBS. It highlights strong trading during the first half of January due to a significant pent up of demand from December with prearranged trades from clients. Together with a market correction for the second half, it believes UBS is in a strong position compared to rivals. ALLIED [...]
British banks facing further disappointments on revenues March 15, 2010 UK banks will likely see more revenue disappointment before rebuilding their profitability, Seymour Pierce said yesterday, adding that consensus expectations for banking income growth were far too optimistic. The brokerage said it was on average 10 per cent below consensus revenue expectations for 2012 for the sector, with the greatest disappointment likely at Royal Bank [...]
DTZ on target as hopes of a recovery rise March 15, 2010 PROPERTY broker DTZ Holdings yesterday said it remains on target to meet market expectations for its full year results, anticipating £70m of cost savings for the period. Boosting hopes of recovery in the sector, DTZ reported better levels of activity in its key markets of London and Paris and increased activity in the investment and [...]