Russia cuts interest rate October 29, 2009 Russia’s central bank yesterday cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 9.5 per cent in an attempt to boost bank lending and reduce the attractiveness of short-term investments in Russian assets. It also reduced the repurchase rate charged on central bank loans to 8.5 per cent from nine per cent. Analysts thought that the [...]
BP SMASHES EXPECTATIONS October 27, 2009 OIL major BP smashed market expectations yesterday as it released third-quarter profits that were down year-on-year but still managed to wow investors. Profits were down 50 per cent from the $10bn (£5.8bn) it reported a year ago, at $4.98bn. This was because oil now trades at around $80 a barrel, plummeting from a peak of [...]
LSE CHIEF XAVIER ROLET PONDERS AN OVERHAUL OF INTERIOR DESIGN October 26, 2009 XAVIER Rolet, the dynamic new top dog over at the London Stock Exchange, just can’t seem to ease up in his quest to stamp his mark on the exchange. In the past few months, Rolet has been very busy – commencing talks to buy up rival Turquoise, axing the LSE’s long-standing M&A and PR advisers, [...]
Campari’s chief is taking a breather before returning to the M&A trail October 25, 2009 Having forked out a cool $2bn (£1.2bn) on 16 separate acquisitions over the past 15 years, it is no wonder that Campari – the world’s sixth largest drinks firm – is now calling for a temporary halt to the spending. Its chief executive, Bob Kunze-Concewitz, recently struck a cautious note due to the downturn that [...]
Ponzi suspect Freeman surfaces at court hearing October 21, 2009 TERRY Freeman, the City trader suspected of running a £40m Madoff-style Ponzi fraud, was forced to come out of hiding to attend a bail hearing yesterday. Freeman, 61, was remanded on conditional bail to appear at City of London Magistrate’s court again on 28 October. The former foreign exchange trader was arrested at his house [...]
Valencia seals victory for a patient United October 21, 2009 CSKA MOSCOW (0) vs MANCHESTER UTD (1) SIR ALEX FERGUSON hailed a job well done after his Manchester United side put themselves on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages with a hard-fought victory over CSKA Moscow. Antonio Valencia’s strike four minutes from time maintained United’s 100 per cent record in the [...]
Ferguson expects United to thrive on plastic pitch October 20, 2009 MANCHESTER UNITED boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists he is not worried about playing CSKA Moscow tonight on an artificial surface. United are looking to maintain a perfect start to their Champions League campaign in the Russian capital, where they won the trophy against Chelsea in 2008. That match was played on grass but this evening’s [...]
Whatever your view on the market there are tools to take advantage October 19, 2009 RECESSION or recovery? Deflation or inflation? New bull market or dead-cat bounce? These are the issues which have dominated investors’ attention throughout the first nine months of the year. Equities have plunged and rallied, yields on government bonds have blown out and contracted sharply, while commodity prices have soared and sterling and the dollar have [...]
West End delivers boost for London sales growth October 18, 2009 LONDON retail sales in September had their strongest growth since August last year due to a wave of renewed consumer confidence, according to figures out today from the London Retail Consortium. Retail sales in central London were 7.5 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis in September than a year ago, when sales nosedived to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 18, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday Telegraph £5.5BN PLAN FOR POWER STATIONA £5.5bn planning application, the largest ever in central London, will be made today when Ireland’s Real Estate Opportunities and Treasury Holdings reveal their blueprint for the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station. Plans for the mixed commercial and residential site, which developers say will be as iconically [...]