Greedy Greece may have gulped all euro help May 3, 2010 CRISIS averted? For now, troubled Greece has been saved – but at what cost? The sums involved are staggering and could have been much lower if the Eurozone’s governments had appreciated the size and scale of the problem earlier and learned the lessons of history. By waiting for the 11th hour to agree a rescue [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 29, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES STEEL INDUSTRY SET FOR A ‘NEW VOLATILITY’ Lakshmi Mittal warned yesterday that the impending large rise in the costs of iron ore would lead to “new volatility” in the steel industry by pushing up prices of the metal in a development that could harm the competitiveness of some of ArcelorMittal’s European plants. The [...]
Bank of America appoints Holliday as new chairman April 28, 2010 BANK of America Merrill Lynch (BoA) appointed Charles Holliday as its new chairman yesterday after the bank’s annual general meeting. Holliday, who has served as a director since September last year, will take over from Walter Massey, who retired from the board after reaching the bank’s mandatory retirement age of 72. Prior to joining BoA, [...]
Deka seeks Drapers Gardens April 28, 2010 DEKA, the German fund manager, is the frontrunner to buy the iconic Drapers Gardens office building in the City of London, according to advisers working on the deal. Drapers Gardens, which is owned by Canary Wharf and Exemplar Properties, was put on the market in March this year. The other bidders include European fund managers [...]
Imperial Tobacco sees first half profits roll in April 27, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco has seen first-half profits rise by 16 per cent despite recession-hit smokers ditching high-end brands in favour of roll-ups. Profit rose to £1.18bn in the six months to the end of March at the fourth biggest cigarette maker in the world, whose brands include Lambert & Butler. The rise came despite a 3.7 [...]
Hedge funds come back in first quarter April 27, 2010 HEDGE funds are starting to shine again. They have so far successfully navigated the turbulence in the financial markets this year. According to Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Index’s analysis of more than 5,000 funds, they posted returns of 3.1 per cent in the first quarter, outperforming traditional equity and bond indices. This helped them move towards [...]
PANTHER BOSS ON A TRIP INTO NOSTALGIA April 26, 2010 ANDREW Perloff, the eccentric chairman of property firm Panther Securities, has something of a cult following among City investors due to his penchant for using company results statements as an excuse to reminisce at length about life’s little quirks. But yesterday’s final results announcement was a corker even by Perloff’s own standards, ranging from fervent [...]
Barclays in line for strong profit haul April 25, 2010 BARCLAYS will this week continue the bumper first quarter earnings trend set by the major US banks, with profits set to be buoyed by declining impairment charges and a strong start to the year in investment banking. Barclays is expected to post first-quarter pre-tax profits of between £1.8bn and £2bn when it unveils numbers on [...]
Microsoft profit up 35pc April 22, 2010 MICROSOFT posted a better-than-expected 35 per cent jump in quarterly profit yesterday, lifted by sales of Windows 7. The company reported a net profit of $4.01bn (£2.6bn), for its fiscal third quarter ended 31 March, compared with $2.98bn, a year ago. The results were above analysts’ expectations. Quarterly net revenue rose six per cent to [...]
Solid results boost Wall Street stocks April 22, 2010 US stocks staged a late-day comeback yesterday as strong quarterly profits from consumer bellwethers like Starbucks outweighed worries about Greece’s shaky finances. First quarter earnings are on track to set a record for the percentage of companies beating estimates. Eighty-five per cent of the 98 S&P 500 companies that have reported so far have beaten [...]