RBS sells pubs business to Heineken for £422m December 2, 2011 Royal Bank of Scotland said it had sold its tenanted pub business to Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company, a unit of the world’s third-largest brewer Heineken, for £422m. The business, which comprises 918 pubs across Britain, has been operated by Scottish & Newcastle since 1999 under a management agreement.
Taxpayer fear as UKFI execs change again January 11, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT’S faltering attempts to sell its stakes in nationalised banks suffered another blow yesterday when the chairman of the agency responsible for the stakes resigned with a gloomy parting shot at the state of the financial markets. UK Financial Investments said Sir David Cooksey is retiring, with current chief executive Robin Budenberg moving upstairs [...]
Lloyds-backed Cala Group builds recovery on higher house prices July 1, 2012 HOUSE builder Cala Group said today its sales and prices have both soared in the last year, despite tough conditions in the property market. Edinburgh-based Cala said sale completions rose 35 per cent to 875 in the year to the end of June, and the firm has already secured forward sales of 160 homes for [...]
Cable calls for more transparency on HBOS January 2, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable has called for more information to be published about the disastrous merger of Lloyds and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), which saw the combined bank require a £37bn bailout. Speaking to City A.M., Cable suggested that those who were in charge when the merger went ahead should play a major role [...]
Cable calls for more transparency on HBOS January 2, 2012 BUSINESS secretary Vince Cable has called for more information to be published about the disastrous merger of Lloyds and Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS), which saw the combined bank require a £37bn bailout. Speaking to City A.M., Cable suggested that those who were in charge when the merger went ahead should play a major role [...]
Sir Fred is set to lose his knighthood January 19, 2012 SIR Fred Goodwin looks set to lose his knighthood, after the Prime Minister said the former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive had been referred to a panel with the power to strip him of the honour. David Cameron said the Honours Forfeiture Committee would look at “what went wrong at RBS” and “who was [...]
Investors waiting for Greece put the brakes on FTSE rally February 8, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue chips closed a touch lower yesterday as investors awaited more clarity on a Greek debt deal. Greek party leaders gathered to agree reforms needed to secure a new EU/IMF rescue package necessary to avoid a chaotic default that would aggravate Europe’s financial crisis. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s added pressure on negotiations between [...]
Lloyds in talks to sell UAE business January 9, 2012 Lloyds Banking Group is in talks to dispose of its operations in the United Arab Emirates, with Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank emerging as the frontrunner to pick up the business, according to Reuters sources. The bank, which is 40 per cent owned by the government, has appointed Rothschild as an adviser for the sale, two [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 3, 2012 The firing line There is no doubt that an inquiry is called for in the Libor manipulation saga, but the fines should be targeted at the dealers and the management, not the banks. Shareholders did not have a say in the internal dirty dealings, nor did they share much of the loot. Bonuses mostly went [...]
Santa rally looks unlikely as FTSE loses ground on very light volumes December 19, 2011 BANKS dragged the FTSE 100 lower in extremely light trade yesterday after the British government estimated the cost to banks of reforming the UK banking system could be as much as £8bn. London’s blue chip index was down 22.35 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,364.99, with volumes at just 67 per cent of their [...]