BEST OF THE BROKERS August 19, 2009 BHP BILLITONBHP Billiton’s full-year results emphasised its balance sheet derived resilience, according to Evolution Securities, which was also impressed by the margin performance that the group extracted from its oil and gas divisions. The broker also said that revenues came in ahead of expectation. It upgraded its target price from 1,025p to 1,200p but retained [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 27, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES JCB FACES FIRST ANNUAL LOSS AFTER GLOBAL DEMAND FALLSJCB faces a struggle to avoid its first annual loss this year, its chief executive warned, as he cautioned that he saw no recovery in demand for construction equipment outside of China next year. Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the UK’s largest maker of earth-moving [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES RBS eyes £10bn debt buy-back as it plans balance sheet shake-up Royal Bank of Scotland is planning a vast balance sheet restructuring in an attempt to boost its capital strength and its standing with bond investors. The move could involve at least £10bn (€11bn) of the bank’s £28bn of debt being bought back [...]
Heat is on at RBS as bonus verdict looms February 8, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) has locked horns with the Treasury in ongoing talks over the size of its bonus pool, which is expected to hit up to £1.4bn this year despite the bank’s heavy losses and the angry populist backlash against weighty City payouts. Chief executive Stephen Hester has repeatedly stressed the importance of [...]
Close Brothers mulls the launch of a sterling bond January 27, 2010 BANKING group Close Brothers is meeting investors to discuss options for a possible sterling bond issue, bankers familiar with the situation said yesterday. The mid-tier investment bank has appointed Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS to manage the investor meetings, they said. Close Brothers declined to comment on the speculation. The group is made [...]
Caution hurts Alliance Trust September 21, 2009 ALLIANCE Trust, the blue-chip investment trust headed by Katherine Garrett-Cox, has said it performed worse than rivals after the manager took a cautious view on the recent equity-market rallies. The Dundee-based trust, which is listed on the FTSE 100 index, has said it is now ranked 36th out of a total of 44 investment-trust rivals [...]
Caution hurts Alliance Trust September 21, 2009 ALLIANCE Trust, the blue-chip investment trust headed by Katherine Garrett-Cox, has said it performed worse than rivals after the manager took a cautious view on the recent equity-market rallies. The Dundee-based trust, which is listed on the FTSE 100 index, has said it is now ranked 36th out of a total of 44 investment-trust rivals [...]
Regulators agree tough new rules on banks’ capital levels September 7, 2009 A GLOBAL committee of top regulators has agreed on a raft of strict rules that will dictate how much banks have to hoard in capital reserves and how much they can borrow. The Basel Committee has agreed tough new regulations to prevent banks from building up giant levels of debt in a bid to prevent [...]
Regulators agree tough new rules on banks’ capital levels September 7, 2009 A GLOBAL committee of top regulators has agreed on a raft of strict rules that will dictate how much banks have to hoard in capital reserves and how much they can borrow. The Basel Committee has agreed tough new regulations to prevent banks from building up giant levels of debt in a bid to prevent [...]
Upbeat economic sentiment boosts FTSE to above 5,000 October 5, 2009 THE FTSE 100 closed higher yesterday after US Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing data came in better than forecast, with miners and banks the best performing sectors. The index closed up 35.63 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,024.33, after tumbling nearly 60 points on Friday to a near three-week closing low below the 5,000 [...]