DTZ slashes payout after dismal year July 21, 2009 TROUBLED commercial property agent DTZ yesterday announced it was axing its dividend after the economic turmoil sent it plunging into the red. The London-based group reported a £36.1m pre-tax loss for the full year to 30 April compared with a £20.1m profit the year before. The slump in commercial property values and transactions meant the [...]
Banks said to need more capital July 21, 2009 Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland will need to raise billions to meet regulatory requirements on capital due to come into force in 2010, JPMorgan said yesterday. JPMorgan analyst Carla Antune da Silva said Barclays would need to find another £12.8bn and RBS £8.5bn to comply with rules requiring banks to set aside capital against [...]
Client inflows boost revival at BlackRock July 21, 2009 US ASSET manager BlackRock suffered a 20 per cent fall in second-quarter profit compared to last year, but saw results improve from the first three months of the year, it said yesterday. The firm, which will become the world’s largest asset manager upon completion of its $13.5bn (£8.2bn) acquisition of Barclays Global Investors (BGI), said [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 21, 2009 Julius BaerMarion Williams has joined the Swiss wealth management firm to promote its product range to UK clients and focus on third party relationships, including fund platforms and distributors. Williams joins the team from Threadneedle, where she worked with life companies, platforms, fund of funds, stockbrokers, IFAs and private banks. Prior to that, she was [...]
LENDERS WIN CONTROL OF CHEZ GERARD July 20, 2009 THE CHEZ Gerard and Bertorelli restaurant chains fell under the control of bankers yesterday. Silverfleet Capital, the private equity company, sold the chains’ owner Paramount Restaurants to its bankers, RBS, HSBC, Barclays and Sankaty for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to cut Paramount’s debts by around half to £65m.
High volatility will add sizzle to your summer trading July 19, 2009 DURING the summer months, the stock markets, like everything else, quieten down in July and August as people head off on holiday and companies scale back their activity. The result is noticeably lighter trading volumes and relative illiquidity in the markets. As a spread better, you might therefore be inclined to take a break like [...]
Barclays star Jenkins to quit the bank to set up his own business July 19, 2009 TOP Barclays dealmaker Roger Jenkins is understood to be leaving the bank to set up an advisory business targeting sovereign wealth funds. Jenkins, thought to earn around £40m a year, was instrumental in securing the £5.8bn investment from Middle Eastern state-backed investors that helped the bank steer clear of government control. The news comes as [...]
Banks back to winning ways July 19, 2009 MORGAN Stanley and Credit Suisse will continue the resurgence of fortunes among the world’s biggest banks this week, when they report second quarter results expected to show a gradual recovery. Wall Street giant Morgan Stanley, which reports on Wednesday, is forecast to show a slight improvement from the first quarter, cutting losses from $0.57 (£0.35) [...]
RBS pay restrictions lead to loss of talented staff to competitors July 19, 2009 ROYAL Bank of Scotland has lost more than 700 of its top investment bankers to rivals as it labours under government restrictions on compensation policy. The bank cannot pay cash bonuses this year as a result of the government bailout which has left it 70 per cent owned by the Treasury. Rivals are understood to [...]
Huge change in the City’s roll of power July 19, 2009 A YEAR of financial turmoil has wiped all but a quarter of last year’s 100 most influential people in European financial markets off the current roll of power. This year’s Financial News FN100 listing, which has the highest rate of turnover in its five-year history, reflects the huge overhaul of top talent the credit crunch [...]