Miners and oils jump on improved commodity prices November 2, 2009 BRITAIN’S top shares closed 1.2 per cent higher yesterday, as miners and oil firms rose, underpinned by firmer commodity prices on the back of bullish economic data, while RBS fell as the lender faces asset sales. The FTSE 100 closed 59.95 points higher at 5,104.50 points, recouping some losses from Friday’s 1.8 per cent fall. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 5, 2009 TRAVIS PERKINSRoyal Bank of Scotland said that Travis Perkins continues to manage its way through a difficult, but expected, merchanting market with DIY surprisingly resilient. It upgraded its forecasts to “buy” from “hold” with a target price increased to 925p. The firm’s shares remain the brokers prefered merchant play. HMV GROUPGoldman Sachs upgraded HMV to [...]
Meet the new PM May 11, 2010 DAVID CAMERON seized the reins of power last night, becoming the first Tory Prime Minister to cross the threshold of Number 10 in thirteen years. Flanked by wife Samantha outside Downing Street, Cameron addressed the country and announced he was inviting the Liberal Democrats into a “full and proper” coalition government. There were none of [...]
HESTER:LET’STAKETHINGSSLOW September 13, 2009 STEPHEN Hester, chief executive of part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has warned a rapid boom after the recession could actually be damaging. In a BBC interview, Hester said a “gradual emergence from recession” that sees the economy “rebalance”is the best possible outcome.
StanChart ends talks with RBS October 4, 2009 AN ATTEMPT by Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered to snap up assets from stricken Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has failed, City A.M. can confirm. Talks between the banks over the sale of around $200m (£126m) of RBS assets in China, India and Malaysia have collapsed after the pair failed to agree on a price. RBS [...]
Lloyds plans to axe 5,000 further jobs November 10, 2009 ANOTHER 5,000 jobs will be lost at Lloyds Banking Group, bringing the total number of sackings to 12,500 since the credit crunch began. Lloyds employees were yesterday warned by banking experts that there could be up to 30,000 sackings before the Lloyds-HBOS merger is complete. Unions branded the cuts, which were announced on the same [...]
TOP BANKER HIRED TO SPLIT UP ROCK October 27, 2009 SENIOR UBS banker Robin Budenberg is set to be named today as the new chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury unit that manages the government’s holdings in UK banks. Budenberg’s first job will be to oversee the break up of Northern Rock into a “good” and a “bad” bank – a plan [...]
TOP BANKER HIRED TO SPLIT UP ROCK October 27, 2009 SENIOR UBS banker Robin Budenberg is set to be named today as the new chief executive of UK Financial Investments (UKFI), the Treasury unit that manages the government’s holdings in UK banks. Budenberg’s first job will be to oversee the break up of Northern Rock into a “good” and a “bad” bank – a plan [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 16, 2010 Serco Alastair Lyons has been appointed by international services company Serco as non-executive chairman. He joins the board with immediate effect before taking up his new post at the annual meeting on 11 May, when he will succeed Ken Beeston who is retiring. Lyons, 56, has been non-executive chairman of insurer Admiral since 2000 and [...]
TIMELINE: HOW BRITAIN’S BANKING SECTOR WENT SOUR November 3, 2009 21 February, 2008Britain passes legislation allowing the government to nationalise Northern Rock after rejecting two private bids. Northern Rock is nationalised months after the Bank of England stepped in to provide support. 21 AprilThe BoE unveils the Special Liquidity Scheme to swap banks' risky mortgage assets for at least £50bn of government debt. 18 SeptemberLloyds [...]