Spanish worry keeps FTSE low June 14, 2012 BRITISH blue chips dipped yesterday, edging down towards recent six-month lows as a surge in Spanish bond yields to record highs cast the spotlight back onto the problems in top trading partner the Eurozone. Uncertainty ahead of Greek elections at the weekend – which may decide whether the country stays in the currency or opts [...]
LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR August 5, 2012 SINCE City A.M.’s last awards ceremony in 2011, the legal sector has undergone one of the biggest shake-ups in recent years with the introduction of the Legal Services Act. The introduction of Alternative Business Structures (ABS) on 3 January was a formal acknowledgment of the ripples of change that have been spreading across the legal [...]
LONDON REPORT May 7, 2012 THE bank holiday began a short trading week in London that is nevertheless crammed full of corporate results, as well as the much-anticipated Bank rate decision. Results are expected today from Hiscox, HSBC and Tui. Tomorrow’s announcements are set to come from EasyJet, Inmarsat, ITV, Sage, Glencore, ICH Group, Balfour Beatty, Prudential, Carphone Warehouse, Weir [...]
FTSE led down by scandal-hit Barclays June 28, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped this morning as miners dipped and Barclays was dented by the Libor scandal while it was confirmed that the UK had lurched back into recession. Britain’s economy shrank by 0.3 pe rcent during the first three months of this year, official data confirmed, leaving the nation in its second recession in [...]
FTSE led down by scandal-hit Barclays June 28, 2012 The FTSE 100 slipped this morning as miners dipped and Barclays was dented by the Libor scandal while it was confirmed that the UK had lurched back into recession. Britain’s economy shrank by 0.3 per cent during the first three months of this year, official data confirmed, leaving the nation in its second recession in [...]
INVESTMENT BANK OF THE YEAR August 2, 2012 2012 will go down as an immensely difficult year for investment banks. Profitability came down as most banks in most markets saw a fall-off in activity. Mergers & acquisition activity fell 16 per cent globally; equity capital markets business was down 31 per cent and many IPO markets were effectively closed. Facebook’s controversial IPO in [...]
Why rivals are banking on Diamond’s downfall July 2, 2012 Whenever a banking scandal breaks in the City, be it rogue trade allegations at UBS, a massive trading loss at JP Morgan or the current Libor interest rates scandal, the first concern is for the reputation of the industry as a whole. But, investment bankers being possibly the most competitive bunch on the universe, the [...]
Glencore nears refinancing deal with Bakries October 13, 2011 LONDON-LISTED commodities trader Glencore is nearing a deal to lend up to $900m (£570m) to Indonesia’s Bakrie Group to help it refinance debt of $1.35bn in exchange for additional marketing rights on coal. Under the refinancing deal, Glencore will have the option of turning the loan into an equity stake in the coal miner Bumi, [...]
Glencore in Bakrie talks over shares October 11, 2011 MINING giant Glencore is pressing the Bakrie group for more rights to sell coal and an option to buy shares in the Indonesian coal company Bumi, in exchange for refinancing a $1.34bn (£860m) short-term loan. The mining giant, which has in the past come to the rescue of cash-strapped firms in exchange for equity stakes, [...]
Kicking the soft drink bottletop down the road proves costly July 11, 2012 UPON nothing has so great and diligent ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all countries, except the most uncivilised, as upon the invention of substitutes for water.” The great American cynic Ambrose Bierce wasn’t writing about Britvic’s Fruit Shoot brand, but he might as well have been. Since 2000, the fruit [...]