London pre-open: FTSE to suffer slight drop in early trading
8th May 2012 07:31
City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open down eight points from Friday's close of 5,655, following the UK bank holiday weekend which saw polital uncertainty resurface in Europe following the Greek and French elections. Andrew Moss, the Chief Executive Officer of insurance giant Aviva, has taken
Read moreMoss falls on his sword at Aviva
8th May 2012 07:06
Andrew Moss, the Chief Executive Officer of insurance giant Aviva, has taken the hint from disgruntled shareholders, and has quit the post with immediate effect. The move, instigated by Moss, follows last week's Aviva annual general meeting which saw a majority of shareholders vote against the remu
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Hollande, BT, Facebook
6th May 2012 12:05
John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned retailer behind John Lewis and Waitrose, is exploring opening shops in China, a move which would mark its first foray outside the UK. Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the partnership, recently visited the country on a mission focused on sourcing products, visi
Read moreTrinity Mirror boss leaves on the sly
4th May 2012 09:52
Sly Bailey, one of the highest profile British Chief Executives of the last decade, is to leave her post as boss of Trinity Mirror after bearing the brunt of shareholder anger over pay. In a statement released on Thursday night after the stock market had closed Trinity said Bailey had handed in her
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: RBS, Horizon, Italy
4th May 2012 07:01
Royal Bank of Scotland will on Friday confirm it has all but repaid the £163bn in emergency loans it received from British and US taxpayers during the financial crisis. The part-nationalised lender, which is 82pc state-owned following a £45bn taxpayer bailout, will complete the loan repayments next
Read morePay wars hot up, WPP's Sir Martin Sorrell under spotlight
1st May 2012 10:13
Whisper it not at remuneration committee meetings but we may be living through a golden period of shareholder activism over pay. The latest target may be Sir Martin Sorrell, the not unassuming Chief Executive of WPP, the world's biggest advertising firm. The Telegraph suggests the company is "riski
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie down as Man Group provides a drag
30th Apr 2012 11:48
- Spain joins the UK in recession - Man Group volatile ahead of Q1 IMS - Aberdeen up after solid first half London's blue chip index was trading near its lowest levels of the day by Monday lunchtime, snapping a four-day winning streak as Eurozone concerns were once again brought into the spotlight.
Read moreLondon open: Markets cautious early on, Spain in focus
30th Apr 2012 08:32
- Aberdeen leads risers after solid first half - Randgold falls after broker downgrade - Spain focus ahead of Thursday's bond auction Following a four-day winning streak, the FTSE 100 opened broadly flat on Monday morning with the Eurozone again in focus as Spanish debt concerns continue to weigh
Read moreAviva to review executive pay
30th Apr 2012 07:06
Insurance giant Aviva is the latest firm to sit up and take note of disgruntled shareholders as it announced a review of executive remuneration practises. It also said that chief executive Andrew Moss, who received a £2.69m package for 2012, would waive his pay rise for the year. It follows a stor
Read moreLondon close: Markets rebound after steep losses
24th Apr 2012 16:43
- Global markets rebound after yesterday's losses - Man Group jumps as UBS speculates over M&A - Shell makes 220p-a-share offer for Cove London's FTSE 100 index clawed its way back above the 5,700 level on Tuesday afternoon after a broadly stronger start on Wall Street. Europe's major benchmarks we
Read moreMonday broker round-up
23rd Apr 2012 08:56
ARM Holdings: JP Morgan Cazenove upgrades from underweight to neutral, target lifted from 400p to 540p. AstraZeneca: Barclays Capital upgrades from underweight to equal weight, target upped from 3,200p to 3,250p. Aviva: Goldman Sachs upgrades from neutral to buy. Barclays: Nomura reiterates neutr
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Barclays, Aviva, Manufacturers
20th Apr 2012 07:00
The determination to find new blockbuster drugs has encouraged GlaxoSmithKline to bid $2.6 billion for a company that it admits has uncertain prospects. GSK has offered to buy its long-term partner Human Genome Sciences for $13 a share, an 81 per cent premium to the previous day's price. The compani
Read moreAviva to flatten management structure
19th Apr 2012 10:02
There is blood on the board room carpet at Aviva after the insurance giant restructured its management structure to reflect the fact it now operates in fewer countries than in days of yore. "We have decided to remove the regional layer of our structure and are appointing the leaders of our three ma
Read moreLondon midday: Gains cemented by Spanish auction, ZEW index
17th Apr 2012 11:39
- Spain sees strong demand at debt auction - German ZEW surprises to the upside - Barclays leads banks higher after BofA note Gains for London's blue chip index had been extended by Tuesday lunchtime after some positive newsflow from Europe and a rebound in the banking sector. Spain issued €3.18bn
Read moreLondon open: Stocks rise after upbeat China data
2nd Apr 2012 08:26
- Miners wanted after Chinese PMI reaches 11-month high - RBS to dish out dosh to preference shareholders - LSE acquisition of LCH.Clearnet passes milestone UK stocks opened with decent gains on Monday morning as miners rose on the back of some better-than-expected manufacturing data from China.
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