Phoenix rises from ashes to the FTSE 250 September 8, 2010 SERIAL entrepreneur Hugh?Osmond has seen his Phoenix Group life insurance consolidation vehicle promoted to the FTSE 250. Phoenix said its £1.2bn market value would make it one of the larger players in the index. In a quarterly rejig, Home Retail Group, Segro and Cable & Wireless Worldwide will drop out of Britain’s FTSE 100 later [...]
Record travel numbers for Eurotunnel September 6, 2010 EUROTUNNEL enjoyed a record summer this year, after car traffic rose 17 per cent on last year with more than half a million cars taking the trip between Kent and Calais in July and August. The French company, which trades on the London and Paris stock exchanges, said it broke its previous passenger record on [...]
RBS sounds out investment banks for Direct Line disposal August 30, 2010 STATE-OWNED Royal Bank of Scotland has begun sounding out advisers for the multi-billion pound disposal of its Direct Line business. RBS, 83 per cent backed by the taxpayer, has until the end of 2012 to offload the car and home insurance operation under European Union rules on accepting government aid. Sources said the Scottish lender [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 26, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BANKS BACK SWITCH TO RENMINBI FOR TRADE A number of the world’s biggest banks have launched international roadshows promoting the use of the renminbi to corporate customers instead of the dollar for trade deals with China. HSBC and Standard Chartered are offering discounted transaction fees and other financial incentives to companies that choose [...]
A more subtle way to show your wealth August 26, 2010 THERE was a time, not so very long ago, that bling was in. Fast cars, sleek super yachts, and private planes were fundamental to living the jet-set lifestyle which was the City dream for much of the Noughties. But then the markets collapsed and sunning yourself on your yacht in the Caribbean became little more [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 25, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES US CHAINS BEEF UP MEALS TO LIFT PROFITS Fast-food chains in the US are rolling out more expensive premium products after two years of relentless focus on lower priced meals in the hope of recouping profit margins surrendered during the recession of 2008 and 2009. McDonald’s is selling a “smokehouse deluxe” burger in [...]
Germany agrees to take up banking levy August 25, 2010 Germany’s cabinet yesterday agreed to adopt a levy on bank assets which will raise around €1bn (£818m) a year for bailouts, a government source said, a move that small lenders slammed. Small banks complained the new bank restructuring bill fails to rule them out as potential contributors toward a common pot for rescuing big banks, [...]
Admiral looks at Linea deal as profits rise August 25, 2010 ADMIRAL GROUP could bid for Spanish insurer Linea Directa and is eyeing an expansion into the household market after growing its interim profit by more than a fifth to £127m. Admiral, which specialises in car insurance, said an offer for Linea Directa was a possibility at the right valuation. The Spanish business could be worth [...]
Feisty, fun, and a little confused August 24, 2010 THE Mazda3 MPS was once the most powerful front-wheel-drive hot hatch you could buy, an accolade that now belongs to Ford’s Focus RS. Even so, it’s quite possible you may not even be aware of its existence because the model before this one was so understated there was literally nothing about the way it looked [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 22, 2010 THE SUNDAYS The Sunday Telegraph TESCO TO OPEN DRIVE-THRU STORE It has moved into banking, pet insurance and telecoms, but Tesco will expand its reach further this week with the launch of the UK’s first ever “drive-thru” supermarket. The service will allow customers to pick up their weekly shop without leaving their car. LIDL SET [...]