Lloyds Banking gets 95% rights take-up
14th Dec 2009 07:09
Lloyds Banking has received overwhelming backing from investors for its £13.5bn cash call with a take-up of over 95% of the shares on offer. Analysts had expected a strong positive response as the shares were offered on a 1.34 for 1 basis at 37p each, compared to the ex-rights closing price on Frid
Read moreSunday newspaper round-up: Cadbury, Barclays, Bonuses
13th Dec 2009 11:20
Crunchie to Crème Egg chocolate maker, Cadbury, will tomorrow unveil its formal defence document, spelling out why the future is so creamy that it doesn't need Kraft Food's £10bn hostile takeover bid which has caused a furious response. Chairman Roger Carr and chief executive Todd Stitzer are expect
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Bank tax, Goldman Sachs, Tesco
11th Dec 2009 06:37
Some of London's best paid investment bankers may be exempt from Alistair Darling's bonus tax because the advisory businesses they work for may not count as banks. Investment banking boutiques, such as Lazard, NM Rothschild, Greenhill and Perella Weinberg, are expected to claim that they are not t
Read moreLondon close: Financials lead advance
10th Dec 2009 16:31
UK shares closed not far off their best levels of the day as a strong start on Wall Street built on substantial support for UK-listed financial plays. Investors welcomed Alistair Darling's decision yesterday not to slap a windfall tax on banks and speculation that British lenders had agreed to resc
Read moreDecision deadline for Lloyds shareholders
10th Dec 2009 16:01
Lloyds Banking Group shareholders need to be quick if they want to take up their rights as part of the bank's £13.5bn cash call. It's D-Day on Friday and the new shares will begin trading at the start of next week. Hopes of a good take-up from the 2.8 million private investors are high in some quar
Read moreFriday preview: Carillion, Lloyds...
10th Dec 2009 15:57
Lloyds' shareholders have to make up their minds over the bank's £13.5bn rights issue tomorrow. Hopes of a good take-up from the 2.8m private investors are high in some quarters, encouraged by this week's heavily oversubscribed $986m US bond exchange. Holders wanted to swap $2.7bn of existing secur
Read moreLondon midday: Banks lead rally
10th Dec 2009 12:34
Financial stocks are driving the market higher, with banks and insurers featuring prominently among the best performers. In the banking sector RBS, Lloyds and Barclays rack up the best gains while among insurers Standard Life, Legal & General and RSA are to the fore. Property stocks, however, are
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Lloyds leads bank revival
10th Dec 2009 11:05
London's blue chips have reacted calmly to yesterday's pre-Budget news, with banks the best performers despite the imposition of a bonus tax on their highest paid staff. Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are three of the top four performers, possibly on relief that the bonus tax was not a
Read moreLondon afternoon: Cautious response to Pre-Budget
9th Dec 2009 14:27
London's blue chips have reacted cautiously to the chancellor's pre-Budget speech even though the big numbers were better than feared. The government's borrowing forecast for this year came in ahead of market predictions with a slight upward revison to £178bn, while Alistair Darling stuck to his fo
Read moreBroker tips: Lloyds, British Land, Micro Focus
9th Dec 2009 12:59
UBS has adjusted its price target for Lloyds Banking Group to account for its ex-rights status. The Swiss broker said forecasts are largely unchanged since its last look at the end of November, which followed confirmation of the cash call and enhanced capital note (ECN) conversion terms. It keeps
Read moreLondon midday: Shares hold steady
9th Dec 2009 12:06
With less than half an hour to go before the Chancellor's pre-Budget Report speech, leading equities are back to square one, as investors wait to see what the Chancellor has in store. Speculation is he'll announce the biggest squeeze in public spending for a generation, with only schools, hospital
Read moreBroker snap: UBS still hot on Lloyds
9th Dec 2009 12:05
UBS has adjusted its price target for Lloyds Banking Group to account for its ex-rights status. The Swiss broker said forecasts are largely unchanged since its last look at the end of November, which followed confirmation of the cash call and enhanced capital note (ECN) conversion terms. It keeps
Read moreLondon open: Better than expected
9th Dec 2009 08:52
London has opened stronger than expected despite three-figure losses in the US overnight and a trickle of bad news on Greece and Dubai. UK investors also have Chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget speech to look forward to at lunchtime. Speculation is he'll announce the biggest squeeze in publi
Read moreStrong demand for Lloyds' US bond exchange
8th Dec 2009 11:27
Lloyds Banking Group says it enjoyed "strong investor demand" for its US bond exchange, part of the lender's £22.5bn fundraising. It received offers to exchange $2.7bn of existing securities for new enhanced capital notes (ECN), or CoCos (contingent convertible core Tier 1 securities), way above th
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: RBS remains a concern
8th Dec 2009 11:20
It has been a mixed day for banks. Royal Bank of Scotland tops the worst performers and Standard Chartered is also in decline but Lloyds Banking Group is one of the best performers. The prospect of the inclusion a windfall tax on bonuses in tomorrow's pre-budget report is worrying the sector, but
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