Letters to the Editor – 04/04 – Royal Mail IPO, Soccer geography, Best of Twitter April 3, 2014 Royal Mail IPO [Re: Pricing Royal Mail: Welcome to the free market, Wednesday] Simon Walker is entitled to his view that the Royal Mail pricing needed to be cautious, although there could have been few who looked at the valuation at the time and did not spot that money was being given away. In such [...]
RBS snaps up Ewen Stevenson as new CFO April 4, 2014 The Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed Ewen Stevenson as the company's new chief finance officer (CFO). Stevenson joins the state-backed bank from Credit Suisse where he is co-head of EMEA Investment Banking and its Global Financial Institutions Group, Investment Banking division. Ross McEwan, RBS chief executive, commented on the appointment: I am pleased to [...]
City Moves for 20 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 19, 2013 Aviva The insurance company has announced the appointment of Colm Holmes as chief financial officer of its UK and Ireland general insurance business. He was most recently at Zurich Insurance Group, where he was group treasurer and head of capital management. UBS Wealth Management The wealth management business has recruited six specialists to its strategic partnership team. [...]
London IPO frenzy: Investors put off by low quality of new issues June 10, 2014 2014 is well on its way to claiming the crown as the best year on record for initial public offerings (IPO) in London yet dark clouds have started to gather, with one IPO pulled and an underwhelming aftermarket in a number of floats. So where next for the IPO market? At a conference hosted this [...]
Letters to the Editor – 03/04 – Royal Mail, City villages, Best of Twitter April 2, 2014 Royal Mail It’s impossible to accurately price something in the absence of a market, but that does not excuse the government for wasting taxpayer money on the Royal Mail float. Business secretary Vince Cable’s search for long-term investors inevitably reduced demand. And it should come as no surprise that many investors identified as long-termists didn’t [...]
Bottom Line: Royal Mail proves markets trump politics March 31, 2014 ON ITS first day as a listed company in February, shares in AO.com rose by 33 per cent. Three weeks later, Poundland followed suit; jumping 23 per cent on its debut and making millionaires of several of its senior managers. Other players in London’s recent initial public offering (IPO) boom haven’t fared so well; Just [...]
Retail investors drive Saga float towards £3bn April 23, 2014 INSURER Saga is set to put retail investors at the heart of the largest UK stock market float since Royal Mail, as it gears up to publish plans to list the firm in London as early as next week. Saga’s owner Acromas, which also owns the AA, is preparing to offload as much as £1.5bn [...]
Albemarle & Bond finds suitor to help rescue remnants of firm April 14, 2014 BROKEN pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond will be sold by its administrators PwC this week to a private equity consortium led by Promethean Investments. The company, which was de-listed from the London stock exchange after its shares became worthless, is expected to see some of its stores rescued by Promethean and Apollo Global Management. “Mike Jervis, [...]
From Melrose to Hong Kong and now Rio May 5, 2014 1883: Sevens rugby was first played at Melrose rugby club in the Scottish Borders, thanks to a creative fundraising ploy by Ned Haig, a local butcher and player 1921: Buenos Aires becomes the first sevens tournament outside of Scotland, followed by one south of the border at Percy Park in North Shields 1968: Hong Kong [...]
The 2014 Commonwealth Games, and five other reasons Glasgow is still city of culture July 23, 2014 The Commonwealth Games opened in Glasgow last night and over the next two weeks tens of thousands of Londoners will make their way to the cultural heart of Scotland. They come as Scotland edges ever closer – according to the polls – to independence, giving the international showcase even more significance. But unlike other cities [...]