WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES US CHAINS BEEF UP MEALS TO LIFT PROFITS Fast-food chains in the US are rolling out more expensive premium products after two years of relentless focus on lower priced meals in the hope of recouping profit margins surrendered during the recession of 2008 and 2009. McDonald’s is selling a “smokehouse deluxe” burger in [...]
HSBC bid ups Nedbank rating August 24, 2010 HSBC’S proposed acquisition of a majority stake in Nedbank received a ringing endorsement yesterday as the Fitch credit ratings agency said it had put the South African bank on a positive rating watch pending completion of the deal. Anthony Walker, a senior director in Fitch’s financial institutions team, said the acquisition “should serve to strengthen [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 23, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES COMPANIES NOW TURN TO PRIVATE PLACEMENTS FOR FUNDING Private placement deals – whereby companies tap investors directly for loans – are on track for one of their strongest years, highlighting the extent to which companies are seeking to diversify their funding sources away from banks. Companies tapped the market for $27.4bn in the [...]
HSBC first in line for stake in Nedbank August 23, 2010 HSBC yesterday confirmed it is in exclusive talks with insurer Old Mutual to acquire up to 70 per cent of the shares in Nedbank, South Africa’s fourth largest lender, in a bid to aggressively ramp up its offering in the country. The parties have not disclosed the terms of a potential deal, though analysts yesterday [...]
AIG pays back $4bn of loans from taxpayer August 23, 2010 BAILED-OUT insurer American International Group (AIG) said yesterday it paid back nearly $4bn (£3bn) in US loans in its single largest cash payment so far to reduce its debt to taxpayers. The payment reduces the size of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s credit facility by that amount to about $30bn. The outstanding principal [...]
S&P takes Pru off credit watch after strong results August 17, 2010 RATING agency Standard & Poor’s has rewarded Prudential for its forecast-beating results and better-than-expected costs on the failed AIA deal by removing it from “credit watch”. S&P put the insurance giant on notice in March due to concerns over the balance sheet strains involved in its $35.5bn (£22.8bn) pursuit of AIG’s Far Eastern arm. Yesterday [...]
FSA bans five insurance execs and hands out £150,000 fine over fraud August 17, 2010 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned five individuals in relation to insurance fraud and given one director a near-record fine of £150,000. The FSA said yesterday that the five insurance executives whom it had banned had shown complete disregard for the interests of their customers. Andrew Jeffery, a director of Jeffery Flanders Limited, was [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS August 17, 2010 MORE DISCLOSURE FOR PERFORMANCE FEES This was the recommendation made by Lipper, the independent fund research company. It conducted a survey looking at whether performance fees actually help align the interests of fund managers and investors. It found that two-thirds of UK funds can charge a performance fee if they beat a falling benchmark. Lipper [...]
Britain should support banks, not vilify them August 15, 2010 AS fears over a double-dip recession have intensified in the past week, with economic data in the UK, US and elsewhere suggesting the global recovery is slowing, many commentators have again turned their attention to the banks. Even as the banks return to profit, the argument goes, they are constraining growth by reducing lending to [...]
AIG hit with a $1.9bn loss on Fortress August 11, 2010 AMERICAN International Group (AIG) said yesterday it will sell most of its consumer finance unit to Fortress Investment Group and take a $1.9bn (£1.2bn) pre-tax loss due to the sale. AIG, majority owned by the US government, is selling 80 per cent of American General Finance to Fortress managed funds and affiliates as it restructures [...]