FTSE edges up as Barclays chief quits July 3, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up in early trading to continue two sessions of strong gains fuelled by hopes that the Eurozone could avert collapse. Significantly Barclays edged up slightly after chief executive Bob Diamond quit with immediate effect over the Libor rate-rigging scandal. Britain’s third-largest bank also accepted the resignation of chairman Marcus Agius on [...]
FTSE tracks Wall Street losses July 11, 2012 The FTSE 100 fell in early trading tracking overnight losses on Wall Street as the US earnings season revealed corporate weaknesses. US stocks fell for a fourth day after a sales warning from engine maker Cummins came on top of earlier weak forecasts from chipmakers Applied Materials and Advanced Micro Devices. In London luxury retailer [...]
Aviva meets targets but sees capital surplus fall November 3, 2011 EUROPE-focused insurer Aviva met forecasts for both its savings and personal insurance businesses yesterday and sought to dispel concerns about its Eurozone debt holdings. Life and pensions sales fell ten per cent to £20.9bn in the first nine months of the year compared to a year ago, as it cut back on capital-intensive products. Sales [...]
HSBC pay plan opposed by 10 per cent of shareholders May 25, 2012 HSBC’s pay plan for directors was opposed by 10.2 per cent of shareholders at the bank’s annual meeting today, less than the previous year as Europe’s biggest bank avoided the kind of shareholder backlash seen by competitors. HSBC said 86.3 per cent of votes cast were in favour of the resolution on remuneration while 13.7 [...]
Shareholders can find a potent ally in activist funds July 15, 2012 THE so-called shareholder spring – in which shareholders have been revolting against the pay of chief executives of major corporations like Barclays, Aviva, and William Hill – is gaining momentum. And activist hedge funds, which pressure public companies to make changes to improve a company’s share price, will increasingly drive this phenomenon. Many regard hedge [...]
FTSE edges down as Libor crisis deepens July 4, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down with trading subdued as the US was closed for business because of a public holiday. Investors remained glued to the crisis in the banking sector with former Barclays chief Bob Diamond, who quit over the bank’s rate fixing scandal, prepared to be grilled by MPs today. Meanwhile Britain’s service sector [...]
BAFTA’S PICCADILLY HEADQUARTERS FOR SALE May 2, 2012 BAFTA’S landmark headquarters on Piccadilly are to be put up for sale for £76m. Aviva Investors Property Trust has instructed property consultancy Knight Frank to sell the 81,000 square foot building known as Princes House, which is also home to the Princes Arcade, the Tramp nightclub, a screening room, casino and three-storey town house.
City bonuses to crash to lowest level since 1998 May 9, 2012 CITY bonuses for the current financial year are set to collapse to the lowest level in fourteen years according to new analysis. For 2012/2013 performance-based bonuses are expected to total £2.3bn – a near 50 per cent crash from this year’s £4.4bn total and less than a fifth of the £11.6bn peak in 2007/08, according [...]
FTSE creeps up as investors await BoE decision July 5, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged up in early trading as investors awaited the Bank of England’s next move on interest rates and quantitative easing to be announced at midday. Investors were also watching the unravelling Libor (the London Interbank Offered Rate) scandal with ratings agency Moody’s today threatening to downgrade Barclays over the damage to its [...]
Who are the rebels? May 3, 2012 BEFORE yesterday only three FTSE 100 firms had seen their remuneration reports rejected in the nine years since shareholders gained the right to vote on such matters. But the rebellion by Aviva shareholders shows the growing tendency for major institutional investors to take an interest in executive pay. The identity of voters was secret, yet [...]