Inside Track: Co-op should hire a banker as chair to improve its name October 23, 2013 "PLAN A is dead, long live Plan A", was the phrase uttered by one Co-operative Group adviser as the details of its revised restructuring emerged on Monday morning. Er, not quite. As accustomed as the mutual’s new management has had to become to putting a brave face on an ugly balance sheet, this was a [...]
Metro Bank may float as it gains more customers October 22, 2013 METRO Bank reported a 75 per cent rise in customer numbers in the first three quarters of the year yesterday. The strong growth figures prompted the bank to write to shareholders to tell them it is considering floating on the stock market to raise more funds. Metro now has 238,000 current accounts across its business and [...]
Becker raises doubts over Federer’s Olympic ambition October 21, 2013 LONDON 2012 silver medallist Roger Federer hopes to play at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but former world No1 Boris Becker believes that ambition is “far fetched”. Federer reached the Swiss Indoors second round yesterday to maintain his charge towards the World Tour finals at the O2 Arena. But after a forgettable year for the [...]
Mutual to own just 30 per cent of Co-op Bank after rescue plan October 21, 2013 The Co-operative Bank will cease to be majority owned by its mutual parent after a drastic rescue plan is finalised, according to reports by Sky News City editor Mark Kleinman. After revealing a £1.5bn capital black hole in June the troubled bank has looked for investment to plug the gap. This morning it announced that [...]
Bank policymaker says rates can start to rise without problems October 20, 2013 THE Bank of England (BoE) has some leeway to raise record low interest rates without causing pain to borrowers who have entered the housing market with the help of government lending schemes, BoE policymaker Ben Broadbent said in an interview yesterday. “The Bank of England has been around for over 300 years and we’ve never [...]
Cable pens another defence of Royal Mail selloff as shares soar to 500p October 18, 2013 Shares in Royal Mail hit 500p this morning, soaring up 50 per cent since they were initially floated on the stock market last week at 330p. Vince Cable has again defended the pricing of the company, rebutting claims that he cost the taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds by undervaluing shares, reports Sky News' City [...]
Dr Martens in £300m sale talks with private equity firm Permira October 17, 2013 BRITISH fashion brand Dr Martens is in talks to sell itself to private equity firm Permira, according to sources reported by Sky News. Dr Martens is currently owned by the R Griggs Group, who are believed to be in talks to sell the company to Permira as soon as next month for almost £300m. It [...]
BSkyB’s shares hit 12-year high on user growth October 17, 2013 SKY’S growing broadband and TV customer numbers during the three months to 30 September helped push the pay-TV giant’s share price to a 12-year high yesterday. Sky added 800,000 new paid-for subscriptions to its services during the quarter, boosted by 111,000 new broadband subscribers, which took the company to over 5m total broadband customers. Revenues [...]
Bottom Line: Costs bite but Premier commitment pays off October 17, 2013 NO MATTER who wins, wars are always expensive. When BT kicked off its bid to take on rival BSkyB with its own dedicated sports channels earlier this year, it sparked a bidding battle for Premier League football rights that sent prices soaring. Sky acknowledged the hit in its first quarter results yesterday as programming costs rose [...]
Sky Broadband customer numbers pass five million but profit drops October 17, 2013 Sky has announced this morning that it has seen 50 per cent growth in new paid-for subscriptions, with 800,000 in the three months to 30 September. Profit before tax for the period stood at £245m – down from £288 for 2012/13. (Release) The BSkyB Group has said it has seen nine per cent growth in [...]