Stamp duty up over £900m in last 12 months June 19, 2014 THE ANNUAL total stamp duty bill has soared to £5.6bn in the year to March 2014, up by over £900m from £4.7bn for the previous year, as home buyers are increasingly being hit by the levy as house prices rise while stamp duty thresholds remain flat, according to research by Lloyds Bank. The increase means [...]
London signs slew of deals to foster renminbi trading June 17, 2014 THE LONDON Stock Exchange (LSE) yesterday inked agreements with two of China’s biggest banks to give businesses in China greater access to UK capital markets. The group said it had signed memorandums of understanding with Agricultural Bank of China and the Bank of China to boost London’s role as a hub for the burgeoning offshore [...]
City Moves for 18 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 17, 2014 Edison Investment Research Peter Lynch has been appointed UK oil and gas analyst at the investment intelligence firm. He joins from Tell Investments. Lynch has also previously held positions at Citigroup, where he was a sell-side analyst, Merrill Lynch, and Arthur Andersen. Utilyx The energy consultancy has appointed George Pitt as finance director. He joins [...]
City ignores critics with rush to float June 16, 2014 LONDON’S fragile new issues market will shrug off the fears of sceptical fund managers this week as two of the country’s biggest employers pull the trigger on multi-billion pound listings. FTSE giant Lloyds Banking Group is expected to lift the bottom level of the price range for the listing of high street offshoot TSB, while [...]
Chinese insurer in talks to buy Canary Wharf tower for £780m June 11, 2014 A state-back Chinese insurance firm is thought to be in advanced talks to purchase law firm Clifford Chance’s headquarters in Canary Wharf for £780m. China Life, China’s largest life insurer, is understood to have been on the hunt for trophy assets to buy in London, providing further evidence of mounting interest from Chinese investors in [...]
Fitch upgrades Lloyd’s of London June 10, 2014 The Lloyd’s of London insurance market has been given an upgrade by ratings agency Fitch, which said improved risk practices ahead of the Solvency II rule changes made the group’s debt a safer bet. Fitch said Lloyd’s had made major investments in ensuring stable earnings despite turbulence in the insurance market. Lloyd’s said the upgrade [...]
Investors flood into TSB shares after low pricing June 9, 2014 Investors had placed orders for all of the TSB shares up for sale by yesterday evening, City A.M. understands. Yesterday morning the shares, amounting to 25 per cent of the new high street bank, were priced at between 220p and 290p each. The price would value the bank at between £1.1bn and £1.45bn, below the [...]
London Report: FTSE near to a record high on global pick-up June 9, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index extended its gains and closed near a record high yesterday, led by mining companies, amid signs a global economic recovery was picking up speed. The UK mining index rose 0.4 per cent, making it the biggest sectoral gainer in the FTSE 100 index. The gains came after China, the world’s biggest [...]
London verges towards record share issuance June 9, 2014 LONDON’S booming stock market is on track for its biggest fundraising haul in a decade, after the first five months of this year outpaced the same period in 2007, figures show. A total of 40 companies have raised £5.7bn since the start of the year, according to Thomson Reuters, topping the £4.93bn raised in the [...]
North east takes top spot in Lloyds Bank’s UK economic growth survey June 9, 2014 THE UK economy is picking up pace around the country, according to firms reporting that output is climbing even after 19 consecutive months of growth. Lloyds Bank’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for English and Welsh businesses hit 59.8 in May, up from April’s figure and at the highest in five months. Growth is also [...]