Editor's Picks
FSA head in fresh attack on 'swollen' system
Wednesday 23 Sep 2009
The head of the financial watchdog last night launched a fresh attack on the City, saying that some parts of the system were ‘socially useless’ and ‘swollen’ beyond their optimal size.
Game Group profits slide
Wednesday 23 Sep 2009
PC and video games retailer Game Group saw profits dive for the half year as the slower rate of hardware sales and the lack of major software launches hit turnover.
Liberty placing to raise £316.4m
Wednesday 23 Sep 2009
Liberty International today announced it is placing up to 56.1m new ordinary shares to fund fresh investment plans.
Housebuilders join cash-call trend
Wednesday 23 Sep 2009
Housebuilders Barratt Developments and Redrow will raise around £870m between them to strengthen their respective balance sheets and take advantage of acquisition opportunities. Barratt confirmed plans to raise £720.5m through an underwritten placing and a deep discount rights issue, while Redrow announced a £150m rights issue. The two housbuilders follow Taylor Wimpey, Bovis, Berkeley Group
Airlines to agree 50% carbon emissions cut
Tuesday 22 Sep 2009
British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh is poised to announce an agreement between all parts of the air travel business to reduce carbon emissions by half by 2050.
No blacklisting of construction firms
Tuesday 22 Sep 2009
More than a hundred of the UK's leading building contractors including Balfour Beatty, Kier and Carillion were landed with fines today by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after a four-year investigation into collusion and price-fixing in the building industry. The OFT stopped short of putting the offending companies on a black list, however.
Economists summoned as King endorses weak pound
Tuesday 22 Sep 2009
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King sent the pound sharply lower after he told the Journal newspaper in Newcastle that the recent weakness of the pound could boost the UK economy.
Cadbury admits Kraft deal may make sense
Tuesday 22 Sep 2009
Cadbury is running out of patience with suitor Kraft and is demanding a ‘put up or shut up’ bid deadline, just as boss Todd Stitzer admits there is ‘some strategic sense’ to a deal with the US firm.
RBS indicates rights issue a possibility
Tuesday 22 Sep 2009
Royal Bank of Scotland admits it is considering ‘partial alternatives’ to issuing the government with more ‘B’ shares as part of the toxic asset protection scheme (APS), which it's thought could mean a £4bn rights issue.
ITV may be allowed to stop regional news
Monday 21 Sep 2009
Struggling broadcaster ITV could be released from its public service requirement to provide regional news after Ofcom estimated the service would be heavily loss making once digital TV is switched on.
RBS mulls cash call to avoid toxic debt scheme
Monday 21 Sep 2009
Royal Bank of Scotland is mulling a share issue of between £3-4bn to reduce its dependence on the UK government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS).
Contractors fined £129.5m for price-fixing
Monday 21 Sep 2009
More than a hundred of the UK's leading building contractors including Balfour Beatty, Kier and Carillion were landed with fines today by the Office of Fair Trading after a four-year investigation into collusion and price-fixing in the building industry. Balfour Beatty was fined £5.2m, Carillion £5.3m, but Kier's fine was especially heavy at £17.9m.
Premium bond prizes rise
Sunday 20 Sep 2009
There were more good news for Britain’s long suffering savers this week as the government backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I) announced a 50% rise in the prize money on offer to premium bond holders from next month.
Crash Victims
Saturday 19 Sep 2009
This week marked the anniversary of the demise of US investment banking giant Lehman Brothers and the collapse of insurance behemoth AIG, two events that threatened to bring about the implosion of the world’s financial system. Yet, here we are, a year later and the UK’s major stock indices have struggled their way back above the levels they were at in mid-September 2008.
Oil barons needn't fear the green machines
Friday 18 Sep 2009
Oil bosses are furiously spending billions of dollars trying to find enough of the black stuff to help us maintain our love affair with the car. So, imagine the look on their faces this week when the world’s biggest auto makers wheeled out an army of electric concept cars at the Frankfurt motor show.
Public spending battle steps up
Friday 18 Sep 2009
In the debate over public spending, the question is no longer which party would implement cuts, but how each one would do so.
RBS mulls cash call to avoid toxic debt scheme
Friday 18 Sep 2009
Royal Bank of Scotland is mulling a share issue of between £3-4bn to reduce its dependence on the UK government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS). The move echoes similar moves by Lloyds, as, increasingly, the APS scheme is seen as too expensive a form of insurance by bank shareholders and directors.
Best savings rates: Premium bond prizes rise
Friday 18 Sep 2009
There were more good news for Britain’s long suffering savers this week as the government backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I) announced a 50% rise in the prize money on offer to premium bond holders from next month.
Mortgage lending slips in August
Friday 18 Sep 2009
Mortgage lending fell 13% in August, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), although experts weren’t surprised as the month often sees a dip.
Bluebay funds increase as confidence returns
Friday 18 Sep 2009
A couple of directors of BlueBay are taking advantage of a recent tripling in its share price to trim their holdings in the fixed income fund manager.
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