DUBAI DEBT WORRIES ROCK WORLD MARKETS November 26, 2009 DEEPENING fears about Dubai’s debt problems shook European stock markets yesterday, with the FTSE 100 index suffering its worst one-day loss since March. The FTSE fell by 3.2 per cent, losing more than 170 points to 5,194.13, while leading indices in France and Germany were also down sharply. Wall Street was closed for Thanksgiving. Banking [...]
Concern over Dubai’s debts takes toll on Britain’s shares November 26, 2009 Britain’s top shares ended at a three-week closing low yesterday, pressured by hefty falls in the banking sector as concerns over Dubai’s ability to pay its debts took a toll on confidence. The FTSE 100 ended down 3.2 per cent, or 170.68 points, at 5,194.13, its lowest close since November 6, and losses on the [...]
F&C DITCHES THE DORCHESTER FOR A LEANER SHOWING AT PING PONG November 25, 2009 THINGS may be looking up in terms of the economy, but the corporate Christmas goose is looking just as lean as it was in the depths of the financial crisis last year – and a little bird tells me that asset management firm F&C Investments is among the companies trimming its budget. Usually, F&C staffers [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHEN DO YOU THINK THE ECONOMY WILL COME OUT OF RECESSION? November 25, 2009 SIMON DUKE LLOYD’S OF LONDON“I expect that by the end of next year we will see signs that the recession has ended, particularly because we’ve already hit bottom. It will take time for new jobs to surface and previous jobs to return, but I think the recovery process is underway.” MARK STOOP BEAZLEY“I think the [...]
THE LONDON REPORT November 23, 2009 BRITAIN’S top share index ended sharply higher yesterday, snapping a four-day losing streak, with commodity and banking stocks rallying after comments by a senior US Federal Reserve official. The FTSE 100 index finished up 104.09 points, or 2 per cent, at 5,355.50 and recorded its biggest one-day percentage rise in more than six weeks. The [...]
NEW BOSS NORMAN PREPARES TO BRING THE ROMANCE BACK TO ITV November 18, 2009 THE market has roundly welcomed ex-Asda boss and former Tory MP Archie Norman’s appointment to the chairman’s seat at ITV, but has anyone considered the most pressing question it throws up for the broadcaster? Allow me to explain. Back in Norman’s retail days, perhaps the most exciting new initiative at Asda was the introduction of [...]
JPMorgan eats up 1bn Caz leftovers November 18, 2009 US INVESTMENT bank JPMorgan Chase & Co is expected to seal its £1bn buyout of the remainder of Cazenove today. JPMorgan will pay around 500p per share for the last 50 per cent of the 190-year-old British brokerage, valuing the total business at £2bn. The deal will land a multi-million pound windfall for many Cazenove [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES LLOYDS OFFLOADS MALL FOR £300MHammerson, the UK real estate investment trust, has emerged as the preferred buyer of a £300m shopping mall near Glasgow being sold by Lloyds Banking Group after the original owner defaulted on the loan. The UK commercial property market has seen few sales by the larger lending banks, in [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 17, 2009 Neptune Investment ManagementThe fund management boutique has appointed Robert Pickering, the former chief executive of blue-blooded bank JP Morgan Cazenove, to its board of directors. Pickering qualified as a solicitor with Allen & Overy in 1984 and joined Cazenove the following year. He spent a total of 23 years with the firm and was appointed [...]
FIGHT FOR CITY OPENS UP WITH A GOOD CUPPA November 17, 2009 IF THERE’S one City high-flier who finds it hard to say no to a new opportunity, it must be Stuart Popham, the jovial senior partner of legal giant Clifford Chance. Popham – in addition to his role at the head of the world’s largest law firm, his chairmanship of the CBI’s London council, and his [...]