RBS managers to take reins of £1.1bn fund November 26, 2013 INVESTMENT managers at RBS are planning to take control of the bank’s Special Opportunities Fund with the aim of returning the unit to growth, it emerged yesterday. The unit, 13.5 per cent owned by the bank, has been administered by the lender since it was created but has been in its non-core portfolio since 2008. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 November 2013 November 26, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HALFORDS UBS has a “buy” recommendation on the bike and car parts retailer and has raised its price target to 530p from 435p. The broker said that Halfords is beginning to improve its specialist credentials but the majority of the turnaround plan is [...]
RBS to spin off stake in third-party investment arm November 26, 2013 In a continued effort to consolidate its non-core businesses, RBS is in talks to spin off one of its last-remaining investment arms, reports Sky News' City editor Mark Kleinman. The RBS Special Opportunities Fund (SOF) could be handed over to the lender's management team, with a deal finalised by the end of the year. The [...]
Government confirms student loan sell-off November 25, 2013 The UK government has confirmed the sale of large part of its student loans portfolio to Erudio Student Loans. The sale relates to students who took out fixed term loans between 1990 and 1998. Such loans are the last of their kind still in public ownership. The move is step towards selling all of the [...]
Government to announce sale of unpaid student loans portfolio worth £900m November 24, 2013 THE government is expected to announce a deal this morning to sell off a portfolio of student loans worth £900m. The loans will be offloaded to an unnamed private debt collection agency, Sky News reported last night, saying they would be sold for tens of millions of pounds – “a fraction of the debts’ face [...]
The unlikely bedfellows driving a cab revolution November 24, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks taxis with Russell Hall and Ron Zeghibe, two of the founders behind Hailo IN 1639, a licence was granted to the Corporation of Coachmen, allowing its members to compete with the then-dominant licensed sedan chairs. Today, there are over 23,000 licensed taxi drivers in London. They’ve become a British institution – described [...]
Sport Comment: BT and Sky TV wars boost English sides in Euro competition November 21, 2013 Concerns that main effect will be to polarise Premier League are misguided, argues Soccernomics author in our exclusive article BT SPORT’S mammoth bid for Champions League and Europa League rights in Britain is more than double the amount paid in the previous round – Sky and ITV paid a combined sum of around £135m per [...]
Sky keen for a wholesale deal with BT Sport November 20, 2013 BSKYB chief executive Jeremy Darroch said yesterday that he is keen to sign a mutual wholesale deal with BT, so both broadcasters can offer their customers access to a full range of live sports. At a Morgan Stanley media conference in Barcelona, Darroch said “We’re keen to get a wholesale agreement, but it has to [...]
Inside Track: Crystal Methodist could jeopardise Co-op Bank’s rescue November 20, 2013 SAYING it with Flowers has just assumed an entirely new meaning. The debacle at the Co-op – fuelled by revelations about former bank chairman Paul Flowers’ extra-curricular behaviour – raises profound questions for regulators, government and bank boards alike. Lord Myners, the former Labour city minister, was right to raise the possibility that this week’s [...]
Government lavishes over £400,000 on PR for Green Deal November 20, 2013 Figures released to Sky News under the Freedom of Information Act show that the government spent £413,815 on PR consultants to promote its Green Deal initiative. The lavish spending works out at £1,889 for each household which has had energy efficient measures installed. The Green Deal has so far been implemented in only 219 properties [...]