The energy chief who has £22bn to spend over the next five years August 15, 2010 NATIONAL Grid’s surprise £3.2bn rights issue, which successfully closed in June, still touches a raw nerve with chief executive Steve Holliday. Large investors said he had spent the previous 18 months telling them the firm did not need to come to them for cash. And then in May, alongside its results, it announced the largest [...]
Wall Street drops on jobless numbers August 12, 2010 US stocks ended down for a third straight day yesterday as an unexpected rise in jobless claims and a sobering revenue outlook from Cisco underscored the hurdles to economic recovery. The drop comes a day after all three major indexes posted their worst percentage declines in more than a month, erasing gains for the year [...]
UKTV appoints new boss as Virgin seeks a buyer for the JV August 12, 2010 UKTV yesterday announced a major shake-up of its board just days after it emerged Virgin will sell its stake in the joint venture. Darren Childs will take the helm at the profitable broadcaster, stepping down from his post as managing director of BBC Worldwide Channels. He will replace David Abraham, who stepped down in April [...]
LETTING August 12, 2010 CEO of online lettings agent www.upad.co.uk Q.My first ever tenant is nearing the end of their first six-month fixed tenancy. Should I get them to sign a new agreement? A.It’s entirely your choice whether you sign a new Assured Shorthold Tenancy?(AST) agreement or not. If you don’t, the tenancy becomes a “statutory periodic tenancy”. This [...]
International Power to get higher rating August 10, 2010 INTERNATIONAL POWER (IP) will get a healthier credit rating through its long-awaited merger with GDF Suez, shaving £40m from its annual financing costs, the firm said yesterday. IP is confident of improving its credit rating to “investment grade”, at least BBB–, meaning it will be able to borrow at cheaper rates. The lowered funding charges [...]
Office demand drives Morgan Sindall profit August 9, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Morgan Sindall said growing demand for office space was helping to offset the impact of government spending cuts, although the construction recession was not over yet. “The commercial side is growing, but let’s not over exaggerate – it’s growing a bit but not as quickly as governments are spending less,” said executive chairman [...]
Quintain JV sells offices at Pier Walk August 9, 2010 REAL estate investor Quintain has sold its Pier Walk development near Canary Wharf to DekaBank, Germany’s largest open-ended fund manager, for £97.1m. Quintain, which owned the seven-story building at Greenwich Peninsula in a joint venture with Bovis Lend Lease, said the sale represents a six per cent uplift on the property’s valuation in March and [...]
Lehman art to raise £2m at auction August 8, 2010 ARTWORKS that once adorned the British and European offices of former banking powerhouse Lehman Brothers are to be auctioned off next month, according to the bank’s administrators. Works by the likes of Lucian Freud and Gary Hume and the sign that hung outside the bank’s office in Canary Wharf will be among the pieces up [...]
The late-night bank manager is planning a High Street revolution August 8, 2010 THE revolution in High Street banking has begun. That’s the bold claim of Craig Donaldson, chief executive of Metro Bank, the first addition to Britain’s retail banking scene in 100 years. And ground zero is the corner of High Holborn and Southampton Row, where its inaugural branch opened a couple of weeks ago. “The revolution has [...]
Profits surge at Schroders as assets rise August 5, 2010 UK FUND manager Schroders beat analysts’ forecasts for first-half earnings yesterday, as new asset management products helped it brave weakening markets in the second quarter. The company reported a sharp rise in pre-tax profit to £188.2m over the period, comfortably beating consensus analyst forecasts for between £150m and £168m. Falling equity markets had slowed new [...]