Day of change at UBS and Bank of America March 22, 2012 YESTERDAY was a day of musical chairs at two of the City’s top investment banks as both UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) made significant management changes. UBS, the bank still reeling from the after-effects of the rogue trader scandal, indicated its intention to remain a major force in investment banking by hiring [...]
CHANGING OF THE GUARD AT BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCH March 22, 2012 ANDREA ORCEL Andrea Orcel’s departure will leave a big gap at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. In a world where contacts and relationships matter so much, the suave late 40s banker had it all. His contacts include Santander, Danske Bank, Unicredit (where he helped BoAML take a lead role in the rights issue earlier this [...]
Petroplus courted by Russian March 21, 2012 A former Russian energy minister is planning to bid for three refineries owned by bankrupt oil refiner Petroplus, giving hope to workers who fear refinery shut downs and potentially dashing rivals’ expectations that industry overcapacity might be reduced. Fund Energy, an investment vehicle founded by Igor Yusufov, who still sits on the board of directors [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 19, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SKY PULLED NEWS STORY ON F1 SHARES The chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting ordered a news story to be removed from the Sky News website after an executive producer complained that it had upset Formula 1 racing teams. Jeremy Darroch intervened after the article, which described a controversial agreement involving F1 chief [...]
Profits at Rusal plunged by 92pc in 2011 March 18, 2012 RUSSIA’S United Company RUSAL, the world’s top aluminium maker, reported a 92 per cent drop in yearly net profit today due to a supply glut and slower demand weighing on the price of the metal, as well as a reduction in the value of its stake Russian miner Norilsk Nickel. RUSAL, also listed in Paris, [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 18, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES BANKING QUINTET UNITE FOR HEDGING TOOL Five banks have joined forces to create a hedging tool designed to improve the health of their balance sheets and protect them against market sell-offs as international regulations force institutions to increase the quality of their assets. Barclays Capital, HSBC, Lloyds, Nomura and UBS are to launch [...]
Rusal defends new chair to shareholders March 18, 2012 RUSSIAN aluminium company Rusal was forced to defend its choice of new chairman yesterday after Sual Partners, one of its main shareholders, publicly panned the move last week. Rusal said in a statement: “Barry Cheung’s election as a chairman was supported by a majority vote of the board, including the independent directors. This proves that [...]
Rusal chairman could now sue March 14, 2012 RUSSIAN billionaire Viktor Vekselberg is considering suing Rusal over accusations that he failed to fulfil his duties as its chairman, intensifying a battle with rival oligarch Oleg Deripaska at the world’s largest aluminium producer. The two billionaires have been fighting over Deripaska’s ambition of merging the firm with Norilsk Nickel. Vekselberg quit as chairman on [...]
Rusal chairman quits the firm March 14, 2012 RUSSIAN billionaire Viktor Vekselberg quit yesterday as chairman of the world’s largest aluminium producer, UC Rusal, saying the heavily indebted company was in deep crisis after a long battle with rival oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Vekselberg’s exit widens a rift with controlling shareholder Deripaska, who had sought to build a Russian metals and mining business on [...]
Campari drops as it misses annual earnings targets March 12, 2012 CAMPARI’S shares fell six per cent as the Italian drinks company disclosed it had missed profit forecasts for the year despite positive growth in most areas. Sales were up 9.6 per cent to €1.27bn (£1.07bn) leading to a net profit growth of 1.9 per cent to €159.2m – but both fell short of analysts’ respective forecasts of [...]