Clegg calls for break-up of biggest City banks January 11, 2010 LIBERAL Democrat leader Nick Clegg will try to break up large banks like Barclays and HSBC if he finds himself in government after the next election. “The age of universal banking has to come to an end,” Clegg said as he launched his general election campaign yesterday. Asked if he was making an implicit threat [...]
Strength in energy issues is offset by weakness in miners January 11, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index ended flat yesterday with strength in energy issues countering a sell-off in miners, weak financial issues and uncertain progress on Wall Street. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 3.83 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 5,538.07, having touched a 16-month intraday peak of 5,600.48 early in the session. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 10, 2010 THE SUNDAY The Sunday Telegraph GOOGLE BOSS WARNS UK OVER DEBT MOUNTAIN The chief executive of Google, Eric Schmidt, has given warning to the UK and other western governments that reducing their massive deficits will be far harder than in America because of the dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency. PET CHAIN SUITORS GIVEN [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 10, 2010 Office of Fair Trading The consumer watchdog has appointed Sheldon Mills, a senior associate at law firm SJ Berwin, as its new director of mergers, effective from 15 February. Mills joined SJ Berwin in 2006 from rival Jones Day. Simon Holmes, head of EU and competition at SJ Berwin, said: “While we will miss him, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 10, 2010 TED BAKER Singer Capital maintains a “buy” rating for Ted Baker after strong trading from 1 November to 24 December. Retail sales growth for this period was 19.1 per cent and trading was up 14.3 per cent year-on-year. It says Ted Baker’s collections are doing well and has revised its target price from 505p to [...]
New Look hails strong Xmas January 7, 2010 BUDGET fashion chain New Look yesterday said it was undecided on a return to the stock market as it reported strong Christmas trading. Like-for-like sales in the UK grew 5.9 per cent in the 14 weeks to 2 January, while total turnover including overseas operations was up 14.4 per cent. The “disposable fashion” group, backed [...]
Miners push FTSE higher but M&S weighs on retail shares January 7, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares added 0.1 percent yesterday as a rally by heavyweight miners, in tandem with stronger metal prices, offset weakness in energy issues, with retailers upset by a disappointing update from M&S. At the close, the FTSE 100 index was 7.54 points higher at 5,530.04, another 16-month closing high. “It looks like the big [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 7, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES INEOS PUTS IPO ON BACK BURNER Ineos, the world’s third-largest chemicals producer, has put on ice exploratory work for an initial public offering, according to people close to the situation. A listing, which would have been among the largest by a UK company, was one of a range of options that had been [...]
LINKS OF LONDON FORECASTS FURTHER GROWTH THIS YEAR January 5, 2010 STRONG Christmas trading helped luxury jeweller Links of London enjoy a record year despite the recession. The company yesterday said it expected sales for 2009 to be up at least 28 per cent on the previous year’s figure in excess of £60m. Sales for 2007 were just over £45m. Links, known for its popular “sweetie [...]
Why the UK’s factories are back to 1973 January 4, 2010 EVERYBODY knows that financial services have been the hardest hit sector during the recession, right? Wrong. Manufacturing has been by far a greater drag on UK plc than services, including finance; factories have suffered more than offices, including trading floors. Virtually all our beliefs about the slump turn out, on closer scrutiny, to be incorrect. [...]