Sunday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Cadbury, Pre-Budget
6th Dec 2009 10:27
More than 1,000 investment bankers have quit Royal Bank of Scotland to join rival firms for guaranteed cash bonuses and big salary increases, according to banking sources. The staff exodus, which has cut a swathe through the senior ranks of RBS, has been gathering pace since the government first o
Read moreLondon close: Rate rise fears fuel late slide
4th Dec 2009 17:17
Euphoria over the better than expected US jobless figures proved short-lived as week-end profit taking took hold and miners headed underground. Metal prices weakened in the afternoon session, taking mining stocks with them, as some pundits suggested that with the better than expected jobless figure
Read moreWeek Ahead: Tesco, IG Group, BoE QE update
4th Dec 2009 11:52
Supermarket giant Tesco has recovered some of its bounce recently, as the effects of its double-points Clubcard promotional offer feed through to the top line. The company will issue a third quarter trading update on Tuesday. The performance in the third quarter last year was below par which means
Read moreFriday newspaper round-up: Lloyds, Royal Bank of Scotland, Tesco
4th Dec 2009 06:31
A fresh row over City bonuses is set to engulf ministers after it emerged last night that 200 executives at Lloyds, the partly state-owned bank, are set to receive one-off payments worth up to 80% of their annual salaries. They will receive the money for integrating Lloyds with HBOS, which has led
Read moreLondon close: Footsie rallies above 5,300
1st Dec 2009 16:14
Strength in the US, a record gold price and fight back by the banks had London at session highs by the close of play. Markets decided that fears about Dubai's debt have been overdone. State-owned Dubai World said it had held "constructive" talks with banks and flagged plans to restructure nearly ha
Read moreLondon afternoon: Triple digit gain for Footsie
1st Dec 2009 14:59
Leading shares kicked on again in the afternoon session after US markets opened firmer, with the number of Footsie constituents showing a loss on the day being countable on the fingers of one hand. Mining stocks are going well on hopes of a sustained recovery in Chinese manufacturing. Silver miner
Read moreLondon midday: Footsie consolidates gains
1st Dec 2009 12:00
London is participating in a global rally by stock markets, as doubts over the Dubai debt crisis ease. Buoyant manufacturing data from China is lifting miners. HSBC said the Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for China climbed to a seasonally adjusted 55.7 in November from 55.4 in October. The index
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Dubai, Sovereign debt, Tesco
1st Dec 2009 06:39
The Government of Dubai has refused to honour the debt obligations of its largest company, prompting fears that international creditors could be wiped out. Dubai World, the state-owned conglomerate, was effectively abandoned to its fate by the Emirate's Government yesterday despite previous assump
Read moreTesco's Leahy makes £2.24m share gain
30th Nov 2009 15:34
Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy has made a £2.24m gain on the sale of options he exercised on 27 November. The Tesco boss acquired 228,901 shares at an option price of 173p a share - a total cost of £396,000 - and he sold 148,808 of these shares. He also sold 439,693 of the 1,378,632 shares
Read moreTesco marketing boss' £3.2m profit
25th Nov 2009 16:26
Tesco's commercial and marketing director Richard Brasher has banked a profit of £3.2m on the sale of options he exercised on 24 November. He exercised options over eight separate tranches of shares. Seven tranches were at varying prices and the eighth was for no cost. Brasher retained 361,950 sha
Read moreTesco to sell iPhones this Christmas
25th Nov 2009 14:52
UK supermarket Tesco has joined the slowly growing list of companies selling the Apple iPhone in the UK this Christmas. Tesco is to sell the much sought after smartphone from Apple and has pledged to 'bring a bit of Tesco value to the iPhone', though it remains locked in negotiations with Apple ove
Read moreWednesday newspaper round-up: Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking, BBC
25th Nov 2009 06:27
Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS were given a secret £61.6bn in bridging loans last year on top of the £500bn of support that the banking sector received from the taxpayer, the Governor of the Bank of England disclosed yesterday. MPs expressed astonishment when Mervyn King told them about the emerg
Read moreTuesday newspaper round-up: Lloyds Banking, Tesco, Informa
24th Nov 2009 06:31
Lloyds Banking Group will on Tuesday launch the UK's largest rights issue to raise £13.5bn ($22bn), offering investors new shares at 36p each, a huge discount, ahead of a shareholder vote on Thursday. The rights issue is part of a £22.5bn capital raising that aims to repair the bank's balance sheet
Read moreLondon midday: Holiday firms in the shade
20th Nov 2009 12:11
Leading shares lack direction, with Footsie's early advance turning into a retreat, as early gains on mining stocks are pared. The outlook for package tour operators Thomas Cook and TUI Travel is as miserable as London's weather, according to US bank Morgan Stanley, which has cut its rating on both
Read moreLondon open: Miners lift Footsie again
20th Nov 2009 08:51
After yesterday's shake-out, London's leading shares have started on a bright note. Miners are leading the way. They are essentially proxies for movements in the dollar at present. The US currency falls, miners go up and vice versa. The miners are up today as the dollar has dropped back from yester
Read more