Cowdery eyes AXA synergies June 14, 2010 RESOLUTION will need to extract annual cost savings of more than £500m from AXA UK to make its takeover of the French behemoth’s British life and pensions business worthwhile, the investment bank Goldman Sachs predicted yesterday. Shares in Resolution, entrepreneur Clive Cowdery’s insurance consolidation project, were suspended after it confirmed its intention to pay £2.75bn [...]
Applications to build sink in downturn June 6, 2010 APPLICATIONS for permission to build new commercial property developments plunged sharply over the past year, as a number of high-profile developers succumbed to the downturn and demand for office and retail space faltered. In the past year, 21,729 commercial property planning applications were lodged in England, down 15 per cent from 25,600 the previous year, [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS June 15, 2010 PIMCO LAUNCHES NEW FUND Investment firm Pimco has launched its first active equity funds in the UK: the Pimco equities pathfinder fund and the Pimco equities pathfinder Europe fund, which are part of Pimco’s Ucits III Global Investor Series. The Funds will be managed by Anne Gudefin and Charles Lahr, and they will seek to [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 15, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES SONY COMMITMENT BOOSTS GAMES SECTOR Sony, one of the largest computer games developers in the UK, has committed to remaining in the country in a boost to a sector hit by an exodus to lower-cost countries. The Japanese maker of PlayStation, which has its European game design headquarters in Liverpool, is to receive [...]
The unreliability of the Baltic Dry July 11, 2010 SINCE the end of May, the Baltic Dry Index, which measures worldwide international shipping prices of dry bulk, has plummeted some 50 per cent. It has now fallen for 31 consecutive days – its worst run in more than six years – raising concerns among investors about both the outlook for world trade and for [...]
The unreliability of the Baltic Dry July 11, 2010 SINCE the end of May, the Baltic Dry Index, which measures worldwide international shipping prices of dry bulk, has plummeted some 50 per cent. It has now fallen for 31 consecutive days – its worst run in more than six years – raising concerns among investors about both the outlook for world trade and for [...]
Rail link and bookie set to be privatised June 22, 2010 THE High Speed 1 rail link, air traffic control, the student loan book and Tote, the national bookmaker, are among assets to be sold off by the coalition government. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday said it was high time to return the businesses to private ownership, a move that will generate billions of pounds to begin [...]
Travis Perkins trading beats expectations May 17, 2010 BUILDING and home improvements retailer Travis Perkins said it was trading ahead of expectations, with signs of growth in its merchanting business offsetting a contracting DIY market. The group, which is seen as a building industry bellwether, said like-for-like sales increased 1.4 per cent in the four months to the end of April, rebounding from [...]
Don’t be caught unawares by bank volatility May 26, 2010 FEARS of sovereign debt contagion within the Eurozone have quickly turned into concerns about a European banking crisis. As if investors needed any further confirmation about the fragility of European banks, regional Spanish bank CajaSur was seized last weekend by the Bank of Spain after it had been crippled by property loan defaults. Plenty of [...]
Don’t be caught unawares by bank volatility May 26, 2010 FEARS of sovereign debt contagion within the Eurozone have quickly turned into concerns about a European banking crisis. As if investors needed any further confirmation about the fragility of European banks, regional Spanish bank CajaSur was seized last weekend by the Bank of Spain after it had been crippled by property loan defaults. Plenty of [...]