Markets remain volatile after ECB action August 8, 2011 The FTSE 100 initially fought back this morning as investors found new confidence in banking shares after the European Central Bank (ECB) moved to stabilize the beleaguered Spanish and Italian economies. Italian and Spanish bonds are being bought by the ECB to avoid a potentially catastrophic debt default by the two countries. Bond yields fell [...]
Varde in deal to take Crest Nicholson on August 7, 2011 HOUSING firm Crest Nicholson will be taken over by a US distressed debt specialist within the next few weeks, a source close to the firm confirmed yesterday. Minneapolis-based Varde Partners has been working for months with advisers Lazard and Bingham McCutchen to assess the options for the firm, which became 90 per cent owned by [...]
London grows at fastest rate for 16 months August 7, 2011 BUSINESS activity in London grew at its fastest rate for 16 months in July, according to a Lloyds TSB survey released today. Output grew in all regions except Northern Ireland, but London led the way with “by far the strongest expansion”. “July’s survey data points to an uneven regional recovery, with London advancing clear of [...]
ENTREPRENEURS NEWS | IN BRIEF August 7, 2011 BUSINESS CONFIDENCE FALLS BACK IN JULY Business confidence fell back in July after rebounding in June to a 13-month high, according to the Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets Business Barometer. Less than half (46 per cent) of companies were more optimistic regarding economic prospects, a reduction from 51 per cent in June, while those that were [...]
Banks lead FTSE down on close after tumultuous week August 5, 2011 Banks and commodity stocks fell sharply on Friday as the top share index extended losses into a sixth straight trading day, battered by a global debt crisis and unmoved by US jobs data easing fears of another economic recession. London’s blue chip FTSE 100 closed down 146.15 points, or 2.7 per cent at 5,246.99, as [...]
FTSE continues downward spiral August 5, 2011 Markets continued the downward spiral which saw £35bn wiped off London’s blue-chips yesterday as the debt crisis and fears that the world economic recovery is not gaining traction took their toll. There were few signs of life in markets across Europe this morning with the FTSE 100 slumping 2.8 per cent on opening. Germany’s Dax [...]
ABERDEEN SETS SAIL FOR COWES IN STYLE August 4, 2011 THE RECEIVED wisdom about sailing is that it is equivalent to “standing under a cold shower tearing up £20 notes”. Make that “standing under a fire hydrant tearing up £50 notes” and the description is spot on, said double gold-winning Olympian Sarah Gosling, as she sheltered from the rain in Bow Churchyard outside Aberdeen Asset [...]
FTSE crashes to lowest level in 11 months on Euro turmoil August 4, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index tumbled and closed lower for the fifth consecutive trading day yesterday, depressed by global growth concerns and sovereign debt worries ahead of key US jobs data. Inmarsat shares plunged 19.3 per cent, hitting their lowest level in more than two and a half years after the satellite operator abandoned growth forecasts [...]
LEGAL FIRM BROADENS RECRUITING HORIZONS August 1, 2011 CITY INTERNSHIPS are notoriously hard to come by. But not for regular readers of The Capitalist such as Ratidzo Chinyuku, who wrote to Taylor Wessing partner Martin Winter asking for a work placement after reading about his charity work in her homeland of Zimbabwe in this column on 12 April. Following her successful appeal, the [...]
Hiscox backs Bermuda tax base as catastrophes push it to £86m loss August 1, 2011 LLOYD’S insurer Hiscox said record levels of catastrophes over the past six months pushed it to an £85.6m pre-tax loss yesterday. Hiscox’s chief executive Bronek Masojada told City A.M. the period had been “very active” and 2011 would be “a record-breaking year” for disasters, but played down the impact on the insurer. “This is not [...]