The sweet seller’s son who wants to hold the chancellor to account November 28, 2010 VISITING Andrew Tyrie’s office is like being called to see the headmaster in an old-fashioned boarding school. The chairman of the Treasury select committee occupies a grand corner office in Westminster’s Norman Shaw North building, the former Scotland Yard HQ that now provides office space for MPs. Appropriately enough, Tyrie begins with a history lesson, [...]
Lack of fresh London development to drive a renewed spike in City rents March 18, 2010 THE City of London is currently suffering from a shortage of Grade A commercial property but plans for fresh new build projects remain few and far between, developers warned yesterday. Speaking at MIPIM – the property industry’s annual conference in Cannes – developers said despite projects coming on stream over the next few years, including [...]
RBS sale will not increase competition March 7, 2010 PLANS to make the banking sector more competitive through the sale of Royal Bank of Scotland assets have been cast into doubt. Spanish giant Santander now appears to be the only bank with the financial clout to provide the estimated £2bn to support the struggling bank’s loan book, which stands at £24bn. The Treasury had [...]
BarCap hired to find buyer for Liverpool April 11, 2010 LIVERPOOL’S embattled owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have hired Barclays Capital to find a buyer for the club. The co-owners, who were involved in a bitter spat over the Anfield club, are ready to cash in on their ill-fated reign. Likely buyers include Rhone Capital, the private equity vehicle that had a £116m bid [...]
RBS reports £3.6bn loss February 25, 2010 THE Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has reported a £3.6bn pre-tax loss for the last financial year. The loss for the 12 months to December 31 is far below the record £24.3bn loss for 2008. Its bonus pool has been limited to £1.3bn after receiving billions of pounds in taxpayers’ money during the recession to [...]
LISTED PRODUCT NEWS April 14, 2010 SOUTH AFRICA STORY Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has recently launched a new accelerated tracker that gives exposure to South Africa’s stock index, the FTSE/JSE Top 40 index. This is the second South African product it has launched in recent weeks. It recently launched covered warrants on the same index. Ben Board from RBS says [...]
Miners and Vodafone help FTSE 100 book gains as Carphone goes it alone March 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index ended 0.1 per cent higher yesterday as gains in miners on the back of firmer metals prices and a stronger Vodafone outpaced falls in banking stocks. The FTSE 100 closed 7.64 points higher at 5,710.66 after falling 0.4 per cent on Friday. The index has gained more than 12 per cent [...]
Demand for bank shares lifts FTSE 100 to a 22-month high April 15, 2010 THE FTSE 100 share index hit a 22-month high for the second day yesterday, as US data and earnings reports fanned hopes that a recovery in the world’s largest economy was gathering pace, with banks also buoyed by bullish broker comment. The FTSE 100 closed 28.76 points higher at 5,825.01 – its highest close since [...]
Northern Rock pays out bonuses as mulls a sale March 10, 2010 NORTHERN Rock chief executive Gary Hoffman will waive his £700,000 annual bonus and in turn hand staff £15m in bonuses as the bank dramatically cut its losses for the year. Hoffman will instead be placed on a long-term incentive scheme that will see his bonus linked to performance objectives for the bank. Management at Northern [...]
US private equity vehicle Rhone Group makes £119m Liverpool bid March 14, 2010 Liverpool FC is considering a bid of £118.5m from US private equity firm Rhone Group. The bid would give Rhone a 40 per cent stake in the club, making it the majority shareholder. American co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett would each reduce their stake from 50 to 30 per cent. The bid was prompted [...]