BACON TOP OF THE CROP OF RICH LIST HEDGIES April 22, 2010 IT’S been rich pickings indeed for the hedge fund community this year, if leaked information from the Sunday Times Rich List’s rundown of the wealthiest hedgies in town is anything to go by. Apart from two individuals whose wealth has stayed the same over the past year (Nat Rothschild at Atticus and Steven Heinz at [...]
Heineken in beer sales slump April 21, 2010 HEINEKEN’S beer sales fell more than expected in the first quarter as western consumers drank less, underlining the group’s increasing reliance for growth on sales in emerging markets in Africa and Asia. Its shares fell more than 2.5 per cent to their lowest in eight weeks. The Dutch-based company, whose chief brands are Heineken and [...]
Ladbrokes is boosted by an £80m tax repayment April 21, 2010 HEINEKEN’S beer sales fell more than expected in the first quarter as western consumers drank less, underlining the group’s increasing reliance for growth on sales in emerging markets in Africa and Asia. Its shares fell more than 2.5 per cent to their lowest in eight weeks. The Dutch-based company, whose chief brands are Heineken and [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 21, 2010 Royal London Asset Management The asset management firm has promoted Ian Goulsbra to the role of head of wholesale relationships, effective immediately Goulsbra joined RLAM in 2007 as a business development manager for the south of England. He was previously at Premier Asset Management, where he was head of institutional sales, and also spent time [...]
TUI seeks to raise £500m for warchest April 20, 2010 TUI Travel, Europe’s biggest travel firm, says it plans to raise £500m in new financing to fund acquisitions. The company behind Thomson and First Choice has taken a hit of £26m as a result of the subsequent disruption caused by the volcanic ash. But the group remains bullish and said yesterday the fund-raising would ensure [...]
Avangard to raise £163m April 19, 2010 AVANGARD, Ukraine’s biggest producer of eggs, yesterday confirmed it plans to raise as much as £163m in a London share issue, valuing the company at $890m. The company wants to use the proceeds of the offering to finance the expansion of its egg business through capital expenditures. This includes the completion of construction of two [...]
L’Occitane to list in Hong Kong April 18, 2010 Cosmetics retailer L’Occitane International plans to raise up to $708m (£460.9m) in a Hong Kong initial public offering, a source close to the deal said last night. L’Occitane, which manufactures products including almond and olive-based creams, would be the first French company to list in Hong Kong. The company was not immediately available for comment. [...]
Flight chaos in wake of volcano blast April 15, 2010 THE vast cloud of volcanic dust blasted into the atmosphere by a gigantic underwater eruption in Iceland was still causing flight chaos this morning. All commercial flights were scrapped yesterday after the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, situated under a glacier, sent a noxious dust-cloud drifting South across Europe. Flight delays are now expected to last for several [...]
Q&A: ICELANDIC VOLCANO April 15, 2010 Q. HOW MANY FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED? A. Every single commercial flight out of the UK was grounded yesterday. At least 600 British Airways flights were included. Flights in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Russia were also affected. Q. WHAT SHOULD I DO IF I AM FLYING TODAY? A. Airports owner BAA and airlines recommend [...]
Sberbank sees profits soar as bad loans drop April 15, 2010 SBERBANK, Russia’s biggest lender, said yesterday that quarterly net profit jumped to 43.2bn roubles (£1bn), from 0.3bn roubles a year ago. The significant improvement was a result of a sharp reduction in provision charges for bad loans, the company added. State-controlled Sberbank, which holds roughly a quarter of Russia’s total banking assets, hopes to earn [...]