A year on from Northern Rock, what next for mortgages? August 4, 2008 The question of whether the government can rescue the mortgage market is now being asked by its own advisers, as if the mortgage market can be sorted out in some kind of a vacuum, detached from the rest of the banking sector. I can understand ministers want to stabilise house prices, and that making more [...]
HBOS looks to raise private funds for help August 4, 2008 HBOS has asked investment bank UBS to raise a private investors’ fund to help it offload £400m of investments, as it looks to prop up its balance sheet and cut back on investments in troubled times for the banking sector, it emerged yesterday. The UK’s largest mortgage lender has called on UBS to create a [...]
Banking tragedy fails to lift market players August 4, 2008 You could say the UK banks reporting season is turning into a comedy of errors but perhaps a Shakespearean tragedy would be more apt. It was an awful first act for the sector last week but the drama will reach its crescendo this week as we await downbeat numbers from HSBC, Barclays and RBS. The [...]
New chair of Hermes is ex Gartmore CEO August 4, 2008 The manager of the UK’s largest pension fund yesterday said it had recruited Glyn Jones, the former chief executive of investment manager Gartmore, as its new chair. The appointment of Jones, who spent his time at Gartner building up a big hedge fund boutique, is part of Hermes’ plan to become more independent from its [...]
Sinopec to launch a bid for Imperial August 4, 2008 Oil exploration firm Imperial Energy is expected to rise this morning, after reports that one of China’s biggest state-owned oil companies is launching a bid to buy the company. The China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, commonly known as Sinopec, approached the firm last week and has already begun due diligence. It is thought that the [...]
Banks set for worst results in City history August 4, 2008 Markets brace for a raft of bad news from HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and others HSBC will today kick off another disappointing week of banking results as the credit crunch continues to wreak havoc in the City. HSBC is forecast to reveal $2bn-$3bn (£1bn-£1.5bn) of credit market provisions in its global markets business. Europe’s [...]
BT stock falls on profit slip August 1, 2008 Telecoms giant BT fell the most in more than eight years yesterday, after reporting its fourth consecutive quarterly decline in profit and warning that margins at its global services unit may drop. Its shares fell 12 per cent, the sharpest fall since February 2000, closing at 173.9p. The firm’s share price has lost 28 per [...]
Michael Spencer v Terry Smith: heavyweights set for rematch August 1, 2008 British broker Tullett Prebon last night confirmed that it is in talks with New York-based GFI over a “combination”, in a deal that will create a new giant in the financial markets. If the two sides can reach an agreement, the new company could topple Michael Spencer’s Icap as the world’s largest interdealer markets broker [...]
Budget airlines have become a part of modern life, for better or worse August 1, 2008 Rising oil prices mean that cheap flights are under threat. But is that a good or a bad thing? Such arcane things as the price of oil were until recently beyond the ken of most ordinary folk. But the workings of massive Kazakh exploration companies and the politics of laying pipelines across Uzbekistan are now [...]
In volatile times there are still investments that offer a safe haven August 1, 2008 There are ways to guarantee returns, but always read the small print, warns Esther Shaw In today’s volatile stock market, some anxious investors are cashing in their equity investments and rushing to reduce their exposure to risk by taking shelter in lower-risk asset classes. Finding a safe haven is no mean feat right now and [...]