CIBC and National Bank of Canada deliver stronger than expected growth February 25, 2010 TWO of Canada’s big banks kicked off earnings season with stronger-than-expected growth in profits yesterday, setting the stage for a rise in bank shares and upping the ante for rivals’ profits next week. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said profit more than quadrupled in the first quarter, helped by volume growth in its retail markets [...]
London’s top shares tumble as oil and mining companies slip February 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell 1.2 per cent yesterday, sliding back in the afternoon in tandem with New York stocks, with miners and oils the main drag as commodity prices fell back pressured by a firmer US dollar. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was 64.69 points lower at 5,278.23, reversing again after Wednesday’s 0.5 [...]
High street sales bounce back February 25, 2010 HIGH street spending bounced back this month as shoppers returned in force for the first time since the big freeze. The quarterly Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report showed that 46 per cent of retailers said business was up in February 2010 compared with the same period last year. Sales of clothes and household goods [...]
Banks boost FTSE on hopes that RBS results bring cheer February 24, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares rose 0.5 per cent yesterday, led by banks and echoing gains on Wall Street as US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke assuaged fears of an earlier than expected interest rate rise. The FTSE 100 ended 27.83 points higher at 5,342.92 buoyed by the Fed chairman’s statement and after it had closed 0.7 [...]
Meet the man who would be king: a radical dressed in Liberal clothing February 23, 2010 THE Liberal Democrats have never held much sway in the City. Their traditional supporters prefer a sleepy, polite way of life – not the cut and thrust of the Square Mile. If the opinion polls are to be believed, however, Nick Clegg is set to play the role of kingmaker in a hung parliament after [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 23, 2010 PVE CAPITAL The investment group has appointed two new members to its team managing the Matrix PVE Global Credit Fund, a hedge fund launched in October last year as a joint venture between PVE Capital and private equity firm Matrix. Elena Ciampichetti joins as head of credit research from Citi, where she was a managing [...]
FTSE rocked as mining shares fall on commodity price drop February 23, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares shed 0.7 per cent yesterday, tracking early falls on Wall Street and pressured by weaker miners and energy issues as commodity prices fell with a firmer dollar after dull data. At the close, the FTSE 100 was 36.98 points lower at 5,315.09, having hit a one-month high earlier in the session. US [...]
Lloyds boss Daniels to waive bonus February 22, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group chief executive Eric Daniels yesterday bowed to populist acrimony over City remuneration by becoming the fourth major bank boss in a week to surrender his contractual bonus for the year. Daniels had been entitled to a potential maximum payout of £6.5m for the 2009 financial year, of which just £1.04m represents his [...]
BA staff can’t resist change for ever February 22, 2010 WHAT a shame British Airways’ cabin crew has voted to strike. Willie Walsh, the firm’s chief, is doing a good job in extremely tough conditions to take out costs and ensure the airline will still be with us in five years’ time – yet some of his staff still seem to believe that it is [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 22, 2010 KPMG The accountancy giant has appointed Michelle Quest as its new head of people in the UK, having spent the past 13 years of her career at the firm. Quest joined KPMG from Robson Rhodes in 1997 and became an M&A tax partner in the tax and people services practice in 2003. She takes over [...]