London afternoon: Bid rumours relieve the gloom
7th Sep 2010 14:02
It's a case of 'another day, another bid rumour' for London, with bid speculation about engineering group Invensys and oil explorer Tullow Oil providing a bit of cheer to a subdued market. The rumour-mongers are suggesting that the UK engineering conglomerate could be the subject of a 350p per sh
Read moreHSBC chairman steps down to join government
7th Sep 2010 13:39
HSBC chairman Stephen Green is stepping down after being appointed as Trade Minister. He will step down as chairman of the bank before the end of the year, in time to take up his government role in January. HSBC said it has already started looking for a successor and was still on course to have one
Read moreHSBC's Green tipped for trade post
7th Sep 2010 09:39
Stephen Green, the chairman of HSBC, is being widely tipped to become the coalition government's new trade minister. Reports this morning suggested his appointment could be confirmed within 48 hours and possibly this afternoon. The government has been keen to recruit a high profile trade supremo t
Read moreBanks commission small business credit research
6th Sep 2010 17:01
The biggest British banks have commissioned a report that will profile the creditworthiness of their small business customers. The banks hope the report will head off criticism of their lack of lending. The banks argue that they are only turning away the risky proposals but small business organisa
Read moreLondon open: More gains for Footsie
3rd Sep 2010 09:02
Blue chips made progress early on for a sixth consecutive day, though all eyes will be on the US non-farm payrolls number at 1.30pm. US and Asian stocks made posted modest gains overnight. Autonomy is higher for a second day. Gossip doing the rounds yesterday was acquisition-hungry US software gian
Read moreLondon pre-open: No end to rally
3rd Sep 2010 07:34
Blue chips are seen gaining ground early on after last night's late charge on Wall Street, targeting a sixth consecutive day of gains. Futures prices point to an 18-point rise for London at the start of play following a 50-point jump for the Dow Jones overnight and a modest advance in the Far East
Read moreHSBC could leave UK if forced to split
3rd Sep 2010 07:23
HSBC has joined other banks in warning it could leave the UK if the Commission on Banking recommends the break-up of the country's major banks. In much more explicit comments than its rivals, Stuart Gulliver, the head of HSBC's investment banking business and a possible future chief executive of th
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Bank of England, Food prices, HSBC...
3rd Sep 2010 06:32
A senior Bank of England official reignited the debate over levies on financial transactions yesterday, saying that policymakers needed to address the "myopia and volatility" in the markets. Andrew Haldane, executive director for financial stability at the Bank, said that disincentives may be neede
Read moreThursday newspaper round-up: Tesco, Burger King, BHP Billiton
2nd Sep 2010 06:03
Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket, is one of 10 bidders in the £650m auction for the south-east Asian assets of French rival Carrefour. Other bidders in the first round of bids for the stores are thought to include Casino, another French retailer, Aeon, the vast Japanese supermarket group, and Dai
Read moreWednesday tips round-up: HSBC, Taylor Wimpey, Mouchel...
4th Aug 2010 06:42
HSBC is present in 87 countries around the world but is, sensibly, focusing its firepower on Asia because it believes the Chinese economy will outstrip the US by 2020. The market is expecting substantial increases in the dividend payment over the next few years with the prospective yield for the sh
Read moreLondon afternoon: Fire sale at BP continues
3rd Aug 2010 14:14
After yesterday's dramatic rise London is taking a pause for breath today and either digesting the steady stream of big company results already out this week or preparing for results from the giants of the insurance and banking sectors later this week. Insurance colossus Aviva , scheduled to releas
Read moreSantander nears RBS branch buy
3rd Aug 2010 11:40
Spanish bank Santander is expanding its overseas empire with the acquisition of 318 branches being sold by government-owned Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The sale, thought likely to make about £2bn, is part of a deal agreed with the European Commission as RBS's punishment for borrowing billions fro
Read moreLondon close: Footsie fights back
3rd Aug 2010 09:28
Footsie fought hard to finish in the blue after easing back following yesterday's surge, and was just a whisker short of positive territory at trading's close. An improvement on Wall Street after a shaky start breathed life into London's leading share index. Insurance colossus Aviva , scheduled to
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: HSBC, Santander, Wheat prices
3rd Aug 2010 06:52
HSBC, Britain's biggest bank, emphatically rejected suggestions yesterday that it was needlessly denying credit to small companies and claimed that most business customers were paying a lower rate of interest than before the credit crisis hit three years ago. Douglas Flint, its finance director, in
Read moreLondon close: Footsie soars as earnings impress
2nd Aug 2010 16:51
Footsie posted triple-digit gains as strong earnings here and elsewhere cheered investors. HSBC gave the banking sector a lift. The global banking giant's pre-tax profit more than doubled to $11.1bn on a reported basis, while underlying pre-tax profit rose by 30% to $9.6bn/ Loan impairment charges
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