Dana battles to stop £1.9bn offer by KNOC September 8, 2010 DANA PETROLEUM is braced for a £1.9bn hostile takeover by Korean National Oil Corps after investors dismissed an ambitious defence document demanding a higher price. Shares in Dana closed almost flat at £18.09, just above the level of state-owned KNOC’s £18 per share offer, indicating shareholders were unmoved by the argument. The board of the [...]
Decanting: how to breathe life into your wine September 8, 2010 THE main thing about decanters is that they look nice – and make you look like you know about wine. At least, that’s what I thought until the folks from Riedel turned up at the City A.M. offices to demonstrate the worth of their wares. Twenty minutes after they entered bearing fine glassware, I had [...]
Barclays’ Agius to take helm at BBA September 7, 2010 BARCLAYS chairman Marcus Agius yesterday announced he would step up to chair the British Bankers’ Association after HSBC chairman Stephen Green resigned to take up a new appointment as UK minister for trade and investment. Agius, a former Lazard investment banker, has chaired Barclays since the beginning of 2007. He has maintained a lower profile [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW WILL BOB DIAMOND FIT IN AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE? September 7, 2010 NEIL SHAH | EDISON INVESTMENT RESEARCH “It’s a great example of succession planning as far as I’m concerned. He’ll be in a different position as chief executive, though, and he will probably be more measured in his approach. Where he was before and where he’s going to now are different and he’ll probably be operating [...]
Two staunch defenders of the banks make it on to City A.M.’s inaugural awards shortlist August 30, 2010 TWO personalities who have fought steadfastly for the interests of banks have made it onto the shortlist to win City A.M.’s personality of the year, one of the biggest prizes at October’s City A.M. awards. Mayor of London Boris Johnson was chosen for springing to the defence of the banks in the aftermath of the [...]
Bank told to explain powers August 30, 2010 THE Bank of England (BoE) needs to spell out to consumers what its powers to curb lending will mean for products such as mortgages, the British Bankers’ Association said yesterday. When it inherits the remit of City regulation from the Financial Services Authority in two years’ time, the BoE will be tasked with macroprudential oversight [...]
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR August 30, 2010 IT’S been another tough year in the City. Stock markets are still nervy, the recovery is by no means secure and a double-dip is on many people’s cards. But it is hard times that form characters. Our five nominees for Personality of the Year have proved their mettle over the past 12 months. One is [...]
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 [...]