Bank’s chief hawk says businesses will grow Britain out of recession February 1, 2011 FOR seven months Andrew Sentance stood alone, the only Bank of England rate-setter brave enough to call out for a gradual rise in rates. Yet in January he was finally joined by one of his eight colleagues, Martin Weale, in his appeal for a gradual tightening in the central bank’s rates. “I don’t want to [...]
Barrick Gold joins the FTSE 100 June 9, 2010 THE updated FTSE 100 list was announced last night, with African firm Barrick Gold and Indian oil and gas giant Essar Energy both muscling into the big time. The London Stock Exchange and embattled holiday group Thomas Cook both took the plunge into the FTSE 250. The additions to the list makes the FTSE 100 [...]
Blast from the past as Nadir returns August 26, 2010 A TORY Prime Minister is slashing the budget, Iron Maiden are top of the album chart and now exiled tycoon Asil Nadir is back in the UK. It’s like the 1980s never ended. Nadir, 69, touched down to a media scrum yesterday, accompanied by his glamorous 26-year-old wife, Nur. Tanned, wearing a double breasted suit, [...]
Alchemy sells Pierce stake June 27, 2010 ALCHEMY Partners will sell its stake in broker Seymour Pierce as it attempts to scale down its investments in the wake of the departure of founder Jon Moulton. Alchemy acquired 29.9 per cent of the City’s biggest small-cap brokerage after throwing its weight behind a management buyout in 2003. The Seymour Pierce employee benefit trust [...]
International Power in GDF merger talks July 19, 2010 BRITISH energy firm International Power (IP) confirmed it had revived merger talks with GDF Energy yesterday, sending its share price soaring. The companies have restarted long-running talks over France’s GDF buying up new shares in IP. Previous talks collapsed in January after the firms failed to agree terms. GDF, already one of the world’s largest [...]
Foreigners join FTSE 100 May 31, 2010 THE FTSE 100 will become even more multinational next week when up to three more foreign firms are promoted into the blue-chip index. Indian oil and gas firm Essar Energy is a racing certainty to step into the prestigious list of the top 100 UK-listed firms by market capitalisation. Gold miners African Barrick Gold and [...]
Jon Moulton’s Better Capital will raise £67m in LSE listing June 10, 2010 JON Moulton’s Better Capital will raise £67m as it steps up to the main London Stock Exchange market, just six months after listing on Aim. The group hopes to attract more investors attracted by the stricter regulatory stipulations in place for main market-listed firms. It will issue 64.3m new shares at 105p each – a [...]
FSA examines base metals ETP complaint November 8, 2010 CITY watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) yesterday said it has received a complaint about plans to launch base metal exchange traded products (ETP). “Because it [the complaint] has just recently been sent, we have to look at issues that have been raised,” the FSA said. “We are not a price regulator. Generally what we [...]
Calls for Voda chair’s head July 21, 2010 A powerful investor group has called for the head of veteran Vodafone chairman Sir John Bond. The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTTP), which has a 0.42 per cent stake in the telecoms giant, has demanded a radical shake-up at board level and says it will vote against his re-election. Though the OTTP stopped short of [...]
London rights issues fall to zero May 16, 2010 No company listed on the London Stock Exchange held a rights issue in the first quarter, according to research by Trowers & Hamlins. The three months to March was the first quarter without a cash call since the credit crunch bit in the third quarter of 2007, indicating the urgent need for funds to repair [...]