BLACKSTONE SNAPS UP DEVONSHIRE SQUARE May 9, 2012 BLACKSTONE Group has expanded its property presence in London, buying the 12-building Devonshire Square office and retail complex from rival Rockpoint and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The deal was signed on Friday for just under £340m – about 17 per cent below the £410m paid by Rockpoint and ADIA for the five-acre site in [...]
Insurer Hiscox says premiums remain stable May 8, 2012 FTSE 250 insurer Hiscox yesterday announced a slight decline in premiums written during the first three months of the year to £450.7m, down from £453.5m for the same period last year. But after the firm suffered from substantial claims during the last two years investors will be pleased to hear that the quarter has been [...]
There’s no need to fear the return of retail investors May 7, 2012 LAST week, I was having a Twitter conversation with viewers about Google’s top three autofills for the search query “I want to buy…” The answers that came back varied depending on which country or state the viewer was in. In the US, people want to buy houses, cars, and, in some places, guns. In Sweden, [...]
Watches for those with a global outlook May 3, 2012 THERE’S a case to be made that in the age of global business the ultimate executive watch is a world timer. For anyone whose work sees them regularly jetting between time zones, or who simply needs to know the hour in different markets around the globe at any given moment, a world timer – in [...]
FTSE shored up by strong blue chip results May 2, 2012 The FTSE 100 was flat in early trading as better than expected US manufacturing figures were offset by the bleak picture in the Eurozone. US manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace for 10 months fuelling confidence in the recovery of the world’s largest economy. However, the Eurozone’s manufacturing sector slipped further into decline last month, [...]
Olympics won’t come to rescue of UK economy May 1, 2012 THE OLYMPIC Games will provide only a “temporary fillip” to corporate earnings and fail to lift the UK from its economic stagnation, according to a study released yesterday by Moody’s. The impact of Olympics-related infrastructure developments has “probably already been felt”, Moody’s said. In 2005 the government calculated the economic net benefit of the event [...]
It’s time for supporters of the single currency to apologise May 1, 2012 SOME of the stories coming out of the Eurozone are heart-breaking. Greece’s retail sales are down 13 per cent over the past year, a tragic and all too painful collapse for millions of families. Economists sometimes compare the UK’s recession with the great depression: while technically true in various narrow, statistical ways, such a parallel [...]
It’s time for supporters of the single currency to apologise April 30, 2012 SOME of the stories coming out of the Eurozone are heart-breaking. Greece’s retail sales are down 13 per cent over the past year, a tragic and all too painful collapse for millions of families. Economists sometimes compare the UK’s recession with the great depression: while technically true in various narrow, statistical ways, such a parallel [...]
Lion Capital set to buy French glasses retailer Alain Afflelou April 30, 2012 PRIVATE EQUITY firm Lion Capital said yesterday it is close to clinching a deal to buy rival Bridgepoint’s majority stake in Alain Afflelou, the French eyewear retailer. The UK-based buyout group has entered exclusive talks with Bridgepoint and minority shareholders Apax Partners and Altamir Amboise and expects to finalise the deal in June, it said. [...]
Barclays won’t let pay row deflect it from broader goal April 30, 2012 BARCLAYS Bank’s objective to have an investment banking operation as successful in equities and advisory as Deutsche Bank or any of the other bulge bracket firms is constantly being questioned, both by rivals and by analysts and shareholders. Some say the bank will bottle it as costs get out of control; others say that franchises [...]