FTSE is boosted by banks as stress test fears begin to ease July 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended higher after a choppy session yesterday, driven by a recovery in banking stocks on reassuring comments from US peer State Street and an easing of stress test fears. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 49.82 points higher, or up 1.0 per cent, at 5,014.82, its high for the [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF July 6, 2010 Billionaire retailer Sir Philip Green said yesterday he was considering opening more retail schools after the success of London’s Fashion Retail Academy. Speaking at the Academy’s 2010 awards ceremony, the Arcadia owner pledged to approach the new coalition government about the possibility of an expansion. Green said: “My aim is to open another two or [...]
Weak banks and miners hurt FTSE July 5, 2010 WEAK banks and miners, beset by doubts over the health of the global economic recovery, pulled down Britain’s top share yesterday, while BP rose on media reports it is seeking a strategic investor. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was down 14.56 points, or 0.3 per cent at 4,823.53, having ended 0.7 per cent [...]
M&S readies for investor anger on pay July 4, 2010 A STRONG set of first-quarter figures from retail bellwether Marks and Spencer this week looks set to be overshadowed by animosity at the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, with investors set to clash with executives over the eternally thorny issue of pay. Sir Stuart Rose will officially hand over the chief executive’s reins to ex-Morrisons man [...]
CITY GOES RURAL IN A PASSION FOR SPEED July 4, 2010 CITY petrol-heads were out in force over the weekend, among 175,000 visitors to the Goodwood Festival of Speed at Goodwood House outside Chichester. Among the business visitors to the F1 racing event were Arnauld Bamberger of Cartier, Audi’s Peter Duffy, BlackRock’s James Charrington, and Alfa Romeo/Fiat Group’s Richard Gadeselli. They turned out to watch top [...]
MARKET NEWS June 30, 2010 ETF SECURITIES’ AUM SOAR Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) provider ETF Securities has seen its assets under management (AUM) soar to $20bn as of 17 June, up 70 per cent on July 2009. Its holdings in Europe for its gold exchange-traded products have now surpassed a record $10bn, which is the largest in Europe. Its physical gold [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 29, 2010 Jones Lang LaSalle The real estate services firm has appointed Jamie Stewart-Liddon as a senior surveyor in its tenant representation team. He will be providing consultancy, acquisition and disposal advice to office occupiers primarily based in the South East of England. Stewart-Liddon worked for a City stock-broking firm before moving into commercial real estate five [...]
Housing market is looking healthier June 28, 2010 THE long upwards run for house prices has ground to a halt. The recent history of UK house prices has confounded many commentators: values plunged when the credit crunch hit, albeit not as much as in the US, then regained over half of their losses over the past year. The present return to stagnation makes [...]
CITY VIEWS: WILL ENGLAND’S FOOTBALL FAILURE AFFECT THE ECONOMY? June 28, 2010 BEN WISE LLOYD’S REGISTER “I would have thought that it will affect the economy positively, as fewer people will be taking the day off work to watch the matches. Beer sales will be down, and retailers with special offers might lose a bit, but the impact won’t be great – we would have only played [...]
P&G increases its European market share June 24, 2010 PROCTER & Gamble, the maker of Gillette razors, said yesterday that new product ranges and cheaper versions of existing brands were boosting its market share in Europe in a particularly difficult economic climate for retailers. The world’s biggest consumer goods group has launched new automatic dishwasher and stain removal products over the last two years, [...]