S&P CASTS DOUBT ON BANK REVIVAL August 26, 2010 RATING agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) cast doubt on the strength of the UK banking sector’s recovery yesterday, saying lenders had been buoyed by a rising economic tide. The claim, made after this month’s bumper first-half earnings season, was immediately rebuffed by banking industry figures. While institutions realise they have been helped by an improving [...]
Why your dream home may just be up in Scotland’s northern reaches August 26, 2010 THE number of holiday homes in the UK is on the rise, according to research by Knight Frank. After declining in 2008, the number of British second homes swelled 2.6 per cent last year and is set to rise another 2 per cent this year. So with demand once again on the up, buyers should [...]
BHP bid to hit investor vote hurdle August 24, 2010 BHP BILLITON will be forced to put its hostile bid for PotashCorp to a shareholder vote if it increases its original $40bn (£25.5bn) offer in order to win over the Canadian company’s investors. According to Financial Services Authority rules, BHP will have to put its proposed takeover of PotashCorp in the hands of its own [...]
POTASH IN TALKS TO BLOCK BHP BID August 23, 2010 CANADIAN fertiliser producer PotashCorp is courting a range of potential “white knight” partners in a determined attempt to see off a $40bn (£25.5bn) hostile bid from mining giant BHP Billiton, the company confirmed yesterday. The world’s largest potash producer said it had been approached by and had initiated contact with a number of third parties, [...]
PotashCorp hunts for a white knight August 23, 2010 THIS is shaping up to be a classic takeover wrangle. First came the unsolicited bid – at $39.6bn (£25.5bn), BHP Billiton’s offer is a 20 per cent premium to PotashCorp’s undisturbed share price – which was immediately knocked back. Then came the anguished rhetoric from PotashCorp about the “grossly inadequate” level of BHP’s approach. The [...]
BHP FACES RISING BID DISCONTENT August 22, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton could be left with a diplomatic crisis on its hands if it does not move swiftly to address growing investor disquiet over the cost of the company’s mammoth $40bn (£26bn) hostile bid for Canadian fertiliser giant PotashCorp. BHP will this week attempt to calm shareholder fears at a gruelling series of [...]
Coalition under fire over City regulation August 22, 2010 PRESSURE is mounting on the government to rethink the details of its plans to transform the financial regulatory structure in the UK, which senior bankers have warned could close off avenues for discussion between regulators and the industry. Of particular concern to the banks is the new Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), which will answer only [...]
France offers tax breaks to woo UK banks August 22, 2010 THE government is facing calls to head off attempts by France and Germany to lure the world’s biggest investment banks away from London by offering them lucrative tax breaks. The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) urged ministers to delay launching new rules on pay, bonuses and banks’ capital holdings until other nations do the same. The [...]
BHP deal to hand Potash CEO $400m August 19, 2010 POTASH chief executive Bill Doyle stands to make more than $400m (£257m) from the firm’s sale to mining giant BHP Billiton if the controversial takeover goes ahead, as BHP ramps up its efforts to persuade its shareholders a $40bn hostile bid is worthwhile. Doyle, head of the Canadian fertiliser firm, could make even more if [...]
Bank lending to UK businesses remains weak August 19, 2010 NET lending to British businesses fell for the fourth month in a row in June while mortgage approvals slumped to their lowest level in over a year last month, figures from the Bank of England showed yesterday. In its Trends in Lending report, the central bank showed that the net monthly flow of lending to [...]