More than Voho, darling: Vauxhall is in for an overhaul September 23, 2010 SANDWICHED between the South Bank and the Battersea waterfront, it was never going to be long before Vauxhall took off. Until now Vauxhall has traded on two cards: “Voho” – Gayer Soho – and housing London’s politicos. However, this week’s launch of St George Wharf, more commonly known simply as The Tower, is a sign [...]
The City boys offering a cut above September 23, 2010 IF YOU can find it in the medieval maze between Lombard Street and Cornhill, tailoring shop Cad & the Dandy is a delightful place to get yourself togged up. It mixes old-fashioned charm – an antique mahogany cutting table, an old leather sofa for those waiting to be measured up, a Union Jack across one [...]
Sinochem hires banks as it eyes rival bid for Potash September 22, 2010 China’s Sinochem Corp has hired investment banks to look at toppling BHP Billiton’s $39bn (£24bn) bid for Potash Corp, sources said, as the miner warned it would not be caught in an expensive bidding war for the world’s largest fertiliser group. State-owned chemicals group Sinochem has hired Deutsche Bank and Citigroup to evaluate measures to [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 21, 2010 BARCLAYS Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) expects that negative operating trends will reverse and a ‘new world’ Barclays is set to deliver. The broker reiterates a “buy” rating for the bank with a 410p price target. Gradual profit and loss momentum, fluidity and execution of group strategy are key to a sustained re-rating, according to [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS September 21, 2010 NEW CHINESE ESG INDEX LAUNCHED Provider of sustainability ratings and indexing solutions ECP International has teamed up with China Securities Index to create the CSI ECPI China Environmental and Social Governance 40 Equity Index. The first of its kind, the index identifies the 40 highest ESG-rated companies amongst the Chinese SSE180 Corporate Governance Index and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BLACKSTONE QUITS LIVERPOOL TALKS The credit unit of Blackstone, which had been mooted as a possible leader of a £280m ($436m) refinancing of Liverpool Football Club, has pulled out of talks with its owners in a potential setback in their attempt to keep control of the company. People close to the situation said [...]
TRUST GOLD MORE THAN POLITICIANS September 20, 2010 The summer is behind us. While equity trading volumes have yet to pick up, we’ve seen more activity from policymakers and central banks. Last week’s intervention by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to halt the rise of the yen was a notable example. However, investors are likely to test the BoJ’s resolve. Germany is watching [...]
China is sowing the seeds of a bull market in wheat and corn September 19, 2010 SHARP rises in food prices over the summer raised the ugly spectre of riots and civil unrest across the developing world and rampant inflation in Western countries. In August a Russian ban on wheat exports caused the price to spike, prompting some countries like Egypt to aim for self-sufficiency. The surge was short-lived but the [...]
RBS close to deal with Guolian Securities September 17, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland is close to forming a venture with Chinese group Guolian Securities as part of the lender’s expansion in the booming Asian economy, a Reuters source has said. “China is a core market for RBS in Asia,” the insider claimed. RBS, bailed out by the government at the height of the financial [...]
Row fuels fears of currency war September 16, 2010 THERE were growing fears of a global trade war last night after the world’s largest countries clashed over currency policies aimed at protecting their own faltering economic recoveries at the expense of others. In his strongest words yet on America’s long-running dispute with China over the value of its currency, US treasury secretary Tim Geithner [...]