Banks gear up to report on the first half of a tough year August 2, 2009 The market’s attention is likely to be dominated this week by the banks, which will be reporting their first-half results during the five days. But there will be plenty more for investors to sink their teeth into, with insurers, bookmakers and industrials all on the radar too. Barclays and HSBC kick the week off this [...]
FTSE set to dip as banks hit spotlight August 2, 2009 MUCH of the rally of the past three weeks has been US earnings-led, but this week we’ll have the chance to see how a range of UK banks’ half-yearly numbers go down. The overall diagnosis is likely to be one of recoveries in profitability, with concerns mounting over soaring bad-loan losses. Two of the likely [...]
BP boosts FTSE as miners, telecoms and banks surge July 30, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index ended close to a seven-month high yesterday, as better-than-expected earnings from the likes of BT boosted sentiment, lifting miners, banks and telecoms firms. The FTSE 100 closed up 1.9 per cent, or 84.08 points at 4,631.61 points, the highest level since January 6. The index is up 9 per cent so [...]
Reed share placing to be unveiled July 29, 2009 BUSINESS and scientific magazine publisher Reed Elsevier is today expected to announce plans for a huge rights issue, as it attempts to reduce its $8.3bn (£5.1bn) debt-pile. The Anglo-Dutch company’s new chief executive, Ian Smith, will unveil plans to raise up to 10 per cent of its value through a share placing, as he announces [...]
Temasek unveils 17bn loss July 29, 2009 Singapore state investor Temasek revealed yesterday that the value of its portfolio slid by at least $27bn (£16.5bn), or more than a fifth, in the 12 months ending in March. But the sovereign wealth fund, which made an estimated loss of £800m when it sold its stake in Barclays earlier this year, said it will [...]
Branson and sheikh go for final frontier July 28, 2009 VIRGIN Galactic’s space flight business is selling a $280m (£170m) stake to Manchester City football club’s Middle Eastern owner. Sir Richard Branson will sell 32 per cent of the company to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who last month made a £1.5bn profit selling shares in Barclays. Branson aims to have commercial space flights running [...]
PWC BOARD GET THE X-FACTOR TREATMENT IN SURPRISE CONTEST July 28, 2009 RECENT surveys have shown that employees’ sense of job security has improved in recent months, but it seems it is now so high that poking fun at the board is back in vogue. The PwC board were half way through a three-week UK tour last week – in which they met 850 partners – when [...]
WOMEN LAWYERS IN THE CITY July 28, 2009 CLARE MCCONNELLPARTNER, STEPHENSON HARWOOD AND CHAIR, ASSOC OF WOMEN SOLICITORS SURVEYS continue to show that the progress of women lawyers in the profession, and into partnership, has stalled. Even in the 21st century it is still true that women shoulder the majority of the responsibility for childcare or care of other dependants even when they [...]
Falls in mining and energy halt FTSE’s winning streak July 28, 2009 THE FTSE 100’s two-week winning streak finally came to an end yesterday, with the benchmark index closing 1.3 per cent down on the day. The blue chip index had looked set to put in another consecutive day’s gain in earlier trading, but profit taking in mining and energy stocks dragged it lower. The FTSE 100 [...]
UK stocks keep on rallying buoyed by energy climbers July 27, 2009 BUOYANT energy stocks and miners helped Britain’s top share index rise for a record-equalling 11th straight session, though gains were limited by falls on Wall Street after corporate earnings disappointed. The FTSE 100 was up 9.52 points, or 0.2 per cent at 4,586.13, hitting its highest closing level since 5 January. The index has risen [...]