Apax ready to make a loss in Marken sell off September 16, 2012 PRIVATE equity firm Apax is set to sell medical courier company Marken at a huge loss after receiving a number of first round bids for the troubled business. Apax, which bought the blood and vaccine supply shipping business from Intermediate Capital Group in 2009 for roughly £975m, is selling the firm after finally failing to [...]
Weighing up the market’s odds after St Leger day September 16, 2012 FOR fans of horse racing, there was only one place to be this weekend: Doncaster. It was the annual running of the St Leger, a classic race given extra spice by the prospect of seeing Derby winner Camelot repeat the feat of the great Nijinsky and win flat racing’s Triple Crown. For investors of a [...]
Brit Insurance set to rebrand September 13, 2012 BRIT Insurance, the sponsor of the England cricket team, is preparing to launch a major rebranding exercise, City A.M. has learned. It will complete a transformation that has seen parent company Brit Group dispose of its non-core UK business and agreed to sell Brit Insurance Limited, its legacy business, for £190m. Brit will instead focus [...]
FTSE 100 jumps on German court ruling September 12, 2012 The leading share index was up in early trading, as investors reacted positively to news that German judges ruled in favour of the Eurozone’s rescue fund. Meanwhile, holding company Chesnara led the fallers on the FTSE All-Share, down 6.87 per cent. Embattled platinum miner Lonmin shed 5.56 per cent, as strikes continued at its Marikana [...]
London leads a bounceback in business activity in August September 9, 2012 LONDON drove a recovery in business activity during August, a business survey revealed today, as declines across England and Wales were arrested and reversed. Activity bounced back convincingly, according to Lloyds TSB’s regional purchasing managers’ index (PMI), with the UK recording a score of 52.7 in August – up from 49.5 in July, and above [...]
Parents face state school premium September 9, 2012 Parents have to pay three times the average annual private school fees on their house if they want to get in the catchment range of a top state school, Lloyds TSB claimed today. During 2012, house prices in the postal districts of the top 30 state schools – judged by GCSE results in the previous [...]
Your first move onto the property ladder September 9, 2012 UK HOUSE prices saw their biggest fall for a year in the three months to July 2012, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). But the capital is bucking the trend. London property prices grew by 6.5 per cent over the last year, according to last quarter’s Greater London Authority London Housing Market [...]
More homes would make climbing the second step easier September 9, 2012 GETTING a foot on the property ladder is hard. But, taking the second step could be even harder. Agonising market conditions mean that it could now be the most challenging time to be a “second stepper” in years. Research shows that a first-time buyer stays in their first property for around four years. Since the [...]
FTSE rallies after ECB’s bond buying plan boosts investors’ confidence September 6, 2012 MINERS and banks led the rebound on Britain’s FTSE 100 yesterday, after investors gave an initial thumbs up to ECB president Mario Draghi’s bond buying plans, while strong US data also helped lift sentiment. The FTSE 100 100 closed up 119.48 points, or 2.1 per cent, at 5777.34 as the index recovered losses sustained over [...]
FTSE 100 up on ECB meeting hopes September 6, 2012 The blue chip index was up in morning trading, as markets were dominated by speculation over European Central Bank policy action at the monthly meeting later today. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes will also be released today, at 12 noon. Miners led the index up, as Lonmin was an early riser, adding [...]