PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS April 29, 2010 STATE-OWNED MORTGAGE LENDERS FAIL TO SATISFY State-owned mortgage providers are trailing behind smaller lenders and building societies for customer satisfaction, says a new survey from Which? Money. Bank of Scotland – part of Lloyds Banking Group – had the lowest score; just 41 per cent of customers were satisfied with the provider. Halifax (44 per [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CROP SQUEEZE TO LIFT ORANGE JUICE PRICE The price of orange juice will rise in coming months as Brazil’s citrus crop, the world’s largest, sees its worst harvest in seven years because of bad weather and diseases, according to Cutrale of Brazil, the leading orange juice producer. Orange juice is a $20bn industry [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 6, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CROP SQUEEZE TO LIFT ORANGE JUICE PRICE The price of orange juice will rise in coming months as Brazil’s citrus crop, the world’s largest, sees its worst harvest in seven years because of bad weather and diseases, according to Cutrale of Brazil, the leading orange juice producer. Orange juice is a $20bn industry [...]
FTSE boosted by strong results from UK companies and Greek debt rescue April 29, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index rose yesterday, buoyed by consensus beating results from UK corporates and as anxiety over the Eurozone’s debt crisis eased, though BP sank as a major oil spill worsens. The FTSE 100 closed up 31.23 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 5,617.84, but the index remains down 1.9 per cent on the [...]
THE TIPSTER April 25, 2010 IMPERIAL Tobacco has been resilient in the past year as it is a very defensive stock but recently it has been correcting to the downside. Tuesday’s interim numbers might provide support and the stock could head back above £20. Capital Spreads’ quote for Imperial Tobacco is 1,959.0p-1,962.0p. Oil and gas firm BG Group has seen [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 28, 2010 Insurance Institute of London The IIL has elected Stephen Catlin, the chief executive of the Catlin Group, as its new president, taking over from Willis group president Grahame Millwater. Catlin, who founded the insurer in 1984, has also previously served as chairman of the Lloyd’s Market Association and a member of the Lloyd’s Franchise Board. [...]
City mourns Sir Brian Pitman March 11, 2010 SIR Brian Pitman, one of the most respected bankers of his generation, has died aged 78. Pitman, who was latterly chairman of Virgin Money, led Lloyds Bank for 18 years before retiring almost a decade ago. In his time as chief executive and then chairman of Lloyds, Pitman built the bank from a £1bn business [...]
NEWS FROM THE TRADING FLOOR May 9, 2010 FXCM ACQUIRES BRITISH ODL GROUP American foreign exchange broker FXCM last week announced that it had agreed terms to acquire ODL Group, an independent broker based in the UK and across Europe. The combined companies will operate as one of the largest non-bank forex brokers globally servicing over 200,000 live trading accounts with total client [...]
FTSE weighed down by talk of more banking rights issues October 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S top share index closed lower yesterday, dragged down by banks on worries about rights issues in the sector, while mobile phone heavyweight Vodafone rose following an upgrade from Nomura. The FTSE 100 ended down 20.14 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 5,727.21, after gaining 1.5 per cent on Wednesday to its highest closing level [...]
Buy City offices for steady income October 5, 2010 CONFIDENCE in UK property has plummeted over recent months. The recent commercial property confidence survey conducted by Lloyds showed that almost half of property professionals now think that property prices will stay flat over the next six months (up from 36 per cent in May). So is now the time to ditch commercial property and [...]