Vodafone stockpiles cash for Vodacom deal May 17, 2009 British mobile phone giant Vodafone has already brought 20.5 billion rand (£1.6bn) into South Africa to buy a 15 per cent stake in local operator Vodacom, the latter’s lawyer said yesterday. With unions trying to block the deal with a last-minute legal injunction, the Vodacom lawyer said the money arrived on 7 May and the [...]
Why Randgold Resources’ boss can afford to go on a 48-day bike safari May 17, 2009 BIG, burly, loud and infectious: Mark Bristow, the founder and chief executive of Randgold Resources, looks every inch a mining man. The 6’3” South African is in good form as he bounds into the gold miner’s functional London office in the shadow of the Savoy Hotel (it is undergoing a 16-month £100m refit – the [...]
Why Randgold Resources’ boss can afford to go on a 48-day bike safari May 17, 2009 Age: 50 Work: He became chief executive officer at Randgold Resources in 1995. Before that he held senior posts at Randgold Exploration, African Platinum, Harmony Gold Mining Company and DRD Gold Education: Holds a PhD in geology from the University of Natal in Durban Family: Married with two sons aged 18 and 20 Homes: Selling [...]
Clara Furse to leave the LSE in solid shape May 17, 2009 THE CITY’S most powerful woman, London Stock Exchange (LSE) boss Dame Clara Furse, is expected to issue “solid” full year results for the group as she steps down this Wednesday. The notorious “ice queen” is expected to report sharp declines in trading volumes, with the exchange suffering from the recession. But the declines will be less [...]
Commerz state deal backed May 17, 2009 THE GERMAN government put the seal on its acquisition of more than 25 per cent of Commerzbank over the weekend, after the bank’s shareholders approved a share issue as part of state support for the lender. In a near unanimous vote at the bank’s annual general meeting, investors approved the issue of 295m new shares [...]
Nomura to focus on US in its global expansion push May 17, 2009 NOMURA, Japan’s largest brokerage, will today officially announce a policy of beefing up its US equities division as it presses on with its global expansion drive. Nomura Securities (NSI), the firm’s US broker-dealer arm, said it was pursuing a strategy of “market leading teams to build out and leverage Nomura’s global franchise”. NSI has made [...]
BT bosses face no bonuses if they fail to meet standard performance targets May 17, 2009 TELECOMS firm BT will claw back executives’ bonuses, it emerged yesterday, should they fail to meet performance targets. The news comes after BT announced a crisis in its corporate services arm, more job losses and cut its final dividend last week. BT’s annual report, due to be published on 27 May will outline the details [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs May 17, 2009 Bank of New York MellonThe banking group has appointed Timothy F. Kearney as its new head of global client management and chairman of Europe. Kearney will also retain his existing role as co-chief executive of BNY Mellon asset servicing, though he will relocate from New York to London to take up his new position. He [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 17, 2009 CARPHONE WAREHOUSEMorgan Stanley upgrades its price target for Carphone Warehouse to 185p from 173p citing its decision to buy Tiscali’s UK operations. It sees Carphone as an “attractive” investment, which remains one of the only retailers (alongside Debenhams) that it believes is undervalued by the market. It notes demerger plans are also now well advanced. [...]
CELEBRITY CIRCUIT BECKONS FOR THE BEEB’S RESIDENT HEARTTHROB May 17, 2009 THAT Robert Peston just keeps popping up on the celebrity circuit. The BBC business editor has enjoyed something of a meteoric rise to fame since his scoop about the crisis at Northern Rock back in 2007 – so much so that he even managed to scoop eighth place in a recent Britain’s Sexiest Brains poll, [...]