Rising Sun July 12, 2012 JAPANESE advertising agency Dentsu has, after a string of attempts, finally cracked the global market with a £3.16bn bid for Aegis. Shares in Britain’s second biggest ad agency jumped 45 per cent to 234p after Dentsu unveiled its 240p per share offer, a 48 per cent premium to Wednesday’s closing price. The deal –the second [...]
How to get cheaper car insurance May 27, 2012 KNOWLEDGE is power. And the first thing to know about car insurance is that getting it is a negotiation. In any negotiation, access to information is rarely symmetrical. Those with greater knowledge have more power and in this instance it’s impossible to know more than each firm. This is why you need to shop around. [...]
Boost for Close Brothers bank May 17, 2012 FINANCIAL services group Close Brothers posted a jump in its loan book yesterday as the banking division prospered. It said the banking arm showed a “strong” performance in the quarter to 30 April with the loan book up six per cent to £4bn, helped by new business in motor finance, asset finance and property. The [...]
Ally Financial’s ResCap is filing for bankruptcy May 13, 2012 ALLY Financial’s Residential Capital unit is nearing a bankruptcy filing, sources familiar with the situation said yesterday, in a move that could help the US taxpayer-owned car lender shed its troubled mortgage business but also spur drawn-out legal fights. The board of ResCap was set to meet late yesterday and a pre-arranged bankruptcy filing, where [...]
General Motors disappoints with outlook as Opel losses improve May 3, 2012 GENERAL MOTORS yesterday offered investors a disappointing outlook for the upcoming six months in North America, raising questions about the US economy’s recovery. While the world’s largest carmaker posted a first-quarter profit that surpassed forecasts, the outlook for its core market fell short of expectations. “We’re clearly seeing some improvement in the economy,” finance chief [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 28, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES OSBORNE BATTLE OVER WELFARE CUT Plans by the chancellor to take £10bn a year, or almost £1 in £20, out of the welfare budget are being openly resisted by the department for work and pensions in the first sign of government infighting over the coming spending round. George Osborne made clear in last week’s [...]
Privatised roads could be on the way as chancellor confirms plan to reform March 21, 2012 THE CHANCELLOR confirmed that he will look into privatising some of Britain’s roads, weeks after the plan first leaked. The coalition will reveal in this year’s Autumn Statement whether it plans “to go further” with a scheme for “new ownership and financing model for the national road network”. Osborne said he would be “learning lessons [...]
Direct Line Group set to name Biggs as chairman March 20, 2012 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has offered the role of chairman at Direct Line Group, its insurance unit, to Mike Biggs, a former finance director at Aviva. It is understood that Biggs has not yet formally accepted the job but he will be tempted by the chance to lead a firm that is set to [...]
Boom for car industry as output increases again March 15, 2012 OUTPUT increased again in February, car industry figures showed yesterday, as exports continued to boom. Car production jumped 23.5 per cent on the same month last year to 138,296 units in the month, with 113,252, or 81.9 per cent, of those made for export, data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CAR LOANS SPEED UP AT CLOSE BROTHERS Close Brothers has reported strong growth at its banking arm in the six months to 31 January, but profits were held back by its securities and asset management divisions. Profits at the banking division have grown since the start of the financial crisis, as it expanded [...]