Sun 09 Aug 2009
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Lloyds Banking is weighing up plans for a multi-billion pound share issue to cut its dependency on the taxpayer.The bank is considering a partial withdrawal from the government’s asset protection scheme. Eric Daniels, the chief executive of Lloyds, is said to believe the fees attached to the scheme – £16bn – are too high, and pass too much control to the government, the Sunday Times reports.
Sir David Jones, the executive chairman of JJB Sports, was working on a secret plan to take the sportswear retailer private with Chris Ronnie, the chain's former chief executive who he sacked earlier this year. News that Sir David was discussing a management buy-out of the business with Mr Ronnie – who he has since accused of taking the business to the brink of insolvency – suggests that the two men were far closer than has been suggested, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Secret attempts to resurrect a £2.2bn merger between Friends Provident and Clive Cowdery’s Resolution fell apart last night. A revised proposal from Cowdery offered 0.89 Resolution shares for each Friends share - but was still rejected by the Friends board. His previous proposal valued the business Friends about £1.6bn. Officially talks broke down two weeks ago, but the two sides had been trying to seal a deal ahead of Friends’s results this week, the Sunday Times reports.
The cost of mopping up after the world financial crisis has come to $11.9trn (£7.12trn) − enough to finance a £1,779 handout for every man, woman and child on the planet, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
More than 6,700 homes have been repossessed by banks in which the taxpayer has a major stake, as rising unemployment and pay cuts force homeowners to hand in their house keys. Though, some lenders believe there are signs that the stress is beginning to ease among some borrowers, the Observer reports.
Prudential is poised to raise its dividend this week in a defiant move that could give further impetus to the summer stock market rally. The insurer’s board will meet this week to decide on the higher payment, which has been made possible by the strength of its capital position, the Sunday Times writes.
Troubled technology firm Spinvox has launched an inquiry into the activities of some senior executives after a dossier alleging financial mismanagement was circulated to shareholders. In the past month, the board has instructed advisers at Deloitte, the accountant, and Jones Day, the solicitor, to investigate accusations sent anonymously which relate to how the company is run, the Sunday Times writes.
Simon Fox, chief executive of the music and DVD retailer HMV, has ruled himself out of the race to run ITV despite being regarded as a frontrunner for the job. His decision leaves the way clear for rival candidates including Pascal Cagni, the head of Apple Europe, and Tony Ball, the former chief executive of satellite broadcaster BSkyB, the Sunday Times reports.
Guardan Media Group, the owner of the Guardian and Observer newspapers, lost £24m last year on botched currency trading as it tried to protect hedge-fund investments. The newspaper publisher was caught out by the dollar’s rapid rise against sterling which led to a £24m loss, the Sunday Times reports.
Sir Richard Branson is to take his fight against the proposed tie-up between British Airways and American Airlines to the US House of Representatives by appearing in front of a key sub-committee next month. The Sunday Telegraph understands that Sir Richard has been summoned as a witness for the House of Representatives Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy on September 16.
The Serious Fraud Office is to announce on Tuesday whether it will launch a full investigation into the collapse of car maker MG Rover, The Sunday Telegraph understands. The SFO, led by director Richard Alderman, has been reviewing the case for the last month after Lord Mandelson told Parliament that he had asked the organisation to investigate whether there were "grounds for prosecution".
Media Square, the marketing and communications group chaired by Roger Parry, has launched an extraordinary attack on its largest shareholder accusing him of being "eccentric, hostile and aggressive". In what appears to be an attempt to discredit its largest shareholder, the company also questions whether Peter Lynch – the former stockbroker who owns 21.5% of Media Square and is seeking a seat on the board – is at the centre of investigations by both the Financial Services Authority and the Takeover Panel, the Sunday Telegraph reports.
Hilton, the giant hotel group that was bought by Blackstone for $26bn (£15.5bn) at the top of the market in 2007, could be broken up under plans being devised by its owner. It is believed that Blackstone is looking at a range of options for the hotel group, including public listings for parts of the chain along geographic lines, debt-for-equity swaps with lenders, as well as trade sales of portfolios of hotels to rival companies, the Sunday Independent reports.
The government of the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo is racking up fines of $20,000 a week in a case brought by a New York-based vulture fund over a debt incurred from Tito's Yugoslavia in the 1980s. The fine is the latest twist in the long-running effort by investment fund FG Hemisphere to collect a debt first incurred 20 years ago, when the notorious dictator Mobutu Sese Seko was in power in the DRC. The debt now amounts to $100m, including interest and penalties, the Observer reports.
Astaire Securities, the City stockbroker which was known as Blue Oar until June, is believed to be readying itself to buy rival Daniel Stewart. It is thought that Astaire's chief executive, Edward Vandyk, is looking to table an offer by the end of the summer. Mr Vandyk has been on something of spending spree since wresting control of Blue Oar from its former chief executive, Andrew Monk, earlier in the year, the Sunday Independent reports.
No comments:
Post a Comment