Jupiter stock bounces in first session June 21, 2010 FUND manager Jupiter returned to the London stock exchange yesterday, riding buoyant markets to debut 15 per cent above the price set in an initial public offer (IPO) last week. Jupiter raised £220m to pay off debt and secured a £33.5m windfall for its current owners in its IPO, which priced at 165p. By mid-morning, [...]
Budget focus should not be on banker bashing June 20, 2010 Tomorrow George Osborne will deliver one of the most important Budget announcements in recent memory as he outlines plans to deal with the harsh financial realities facing our nation. The chancellor has already taken steps to trim the structural deficit but there is more to do if we are to maintain our reputation for fiscal [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 20, 2010 Aviva The insurance giant has appointed Dipak Warren as a corporate risk solutions director. Warren joins from Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance in London, which she joined in 2000. In her last role as active underwriter and director of the firm, she was responsible for the syndicate business plan and performance across property, casualty, motor, PI, marine, [...]
The bike and car parts retailer who wants to own Britain on the move June 20, 2010 Halfords and its chief executive David Wild are having a good recession. Earlier this month, the bikes and car maintenance retail chain posted a strong set of full-year figures: pre-tax profits rose 42 per cent to £110m, while sales rose three per cent to £832m. The FTSE 250 business said the trend for healthy living [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES UGANDA TAX ROW DELAYS HERITAGE SALE OF OIL FIELD Uganda is insisting that Heritage Oil, the UK-listed oil explorer, must agree to pay $360m (£243m) in capital gains tax on the “super profits” it will make on a $1.35bn oilfields sale before it will sanction the deal. Uganda’s energy minister said the government [...]
Land Securities in record sale June 17, 2010 PROPERTY developer Land Securities yesterday set a record for the sale of an undeveloped chunk of land in London, forward-selling a retail, office and residential development on Oxford Street to the Qataris. Barwa Real Estate, in which Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is the biggest shareholder, agreed to stump up a total of £250m for the [...]
Ex-OFT expert brought in to probe banks June 16, 2010 SIR John Vickers, the former boss of the Office of Fair Trading, has been appointed to lead a wide-ranging review into the future shape of the banking industry. Announcing the appointment in the Commons, chancellor George Osborne said Vickers would be asked to investigate the best “size, scale and function” of banks in the future. [...]
L&C hires M&S director Michels June 16, 2010 Boutique wealth management firm London & Capital has scored a coup with the appointment of Sir David Michels as chairman. Michels is also currently deputy chairman of retail giant Marks & Spencer and budget airline easyJet. He said: “London & Capital has shown throughout the credit crunch that well run, independent wealth management companies have [...]
Gain exposure to the yuan and the rupee June 16, 2010 THE high-profile battle between Washington and Beijing over China’s stubborn policy of pegging its currency to the US dollar has piqued retail traders’ interest in Asian currencies, and the Chinese yuan in particular. While investors have been able to trade currencies such as the yuan and the Indian rupee through offshore non-deliverable forward (NDF) contracts, [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS June 16, 2010 MAY RECORD ETF MONTH FOR BARCLAYS As the stock markets plummeted in May, ETF trading volumes picked up sharply, according to figures from Barclays Stockbrokers. Monthly trading volumes were at their highest on record – up 44 per cent on the previous month and up 52 per cent on May 2009. Barclays Stockbrokers said that [...]