Exchange traded bonds arrive in retail market February 3, 2010 FOR investors wanting to diversify their investments, bonds have always been an attractive option. However, until now retail investors who manage their own portfolio would have found it difficult to try and buy UK bonds. Earlier this week, though, the London Stock Exchange launched an electronic retail bond-trading platform, and for the first time investors [...]
Kroenke nears Arsenal threshold December 21, 2009 US sports and real estate entrepreneur Stan Kroenke has bought another 25 shares in Arsenal football club, taking him close to the threshold for a mandatory takeover offer. The Premier League club said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange yesterday that Kroenke bought the shares for £8,500 each on 17 December, giving him [...]
Global perspective needed for City reputation January 31, 2010 IT’S Monday and, having just returned to the Square Mile after leading a City delegation to the US, I now have to prepare to leave London again on Saturday for the first of two visits to the Gulf. The close proximity of these business visits throws up some major contrasts between these two markets. In [...]
China’s FX shift won’t spark a sustained rally June 21, 2010 IT WAS a decision that had been long awaited by the financial markets, analysts and policymakers alike. But the announcement by the Chinese central bank to gradually return the Chinese currency to a managed floating exchange rate was issued with little ceremony on Saturday evening Beijing-time. Despite its vagueness, the statement was leapt upon yesterday [...]
LSE loses out as rivals steal market share January 21, 2010 TRADING on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has plunged with new rivals like Chi-X Europe snapping at its heels, sending the company’s revenues down nine per cent to £154.9m. The LSE has seen its share of trading of FTSE 100 stocks drop to 64 per cent last month from 78 per cent a year earlier. [...]
William Hill buoyed by earnings upgrade thanks to revenue surge January 20, 2010 High Street bookmaker William Hill looked attractive to punters yesterday, as shares closed up more than three per cent following a bullish trading statement. Earnings for the year are expected to be at the top end of predictions, with gross earnings of around £250m due to a four per cent increase in revenue. The company [...]
Standard Chartered aims for £406m from India share sale May 23, 2010 STANDARD Chartered plans to raise up to $588m (£406.4m) in an India share sale to be launched tomorrow. The figure is far below the initial target of as much as $750m. London-based StanChart, which is also listed in Hong Kong, intends to use the IDR issue to raise its profile in its second-largest market. The [...]
Cadbury dips below Kraft offer price January 7, 2010 CADBURY shares breached the psychologically-important level of Kraft’s hostile bid price for the first time yesterday, as pressure for the US food giant to increase its offer substantially starts to wane. Cadbury’s stock dipped to an intraday low of 767.5p on the London Stock Exchange yesterday, well below the 771p at which Kraft’s cash-and-shares bid [...]
Sell-off of bank shares is looking overdone January 24, 2010 FOR a President that promised hope not fear, Barack Obama is happy to spook the markets. Last week, the CBOE volatility index – Wall Street’s fear gauge – surged by 62 per cent to close Friday at 27.31, its biggest run in three years. It’s not just the war on banks that has investors running [...]
Nestlé fuels Cadbury bid speculation January 4, 2010 NESTLÉ was again mooted as a potential rival to consumer goods giant Kraft in its £10.1bn bid to acquire confectioner Cadbury yesterday, after boosting its balance sheet by selling its stake in eye care group Alcon. Speculation exploded in the City about the ramifications of the sale, with analyst Warren Ackerman at Evolution Securities noting [...]