News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Darling accused of breaking guidelines over big bank loans

November 26, 2009

CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling broke guidelines by not disclosing loans of more than £60bn to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS last year, a top opposition MP said yesterday. Tory MP Edward Leigh, who heads the cross-party Public Accounts Committee, said Darling went against ministerial guidelines and past practice by not telling him and the Labour [...]
BBA: Walker review must not hurt UK

November 26, 2009

THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the British Bankers Association (BBA) yesterday called on other nations to mirror the Walker reforms on disclosing £1m-plus earners and strengthening boards. BBA chief executive Angela Knight said Walker was right to insist on more time commitment from non-executive directors and financial industry experience to sit on the board [...]
Former RBSchair McKillop takes board role at pharma firm UCB

November 26, 2009

SIR Tom McKillop, the former chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been appointed to the board of UCB, a large biopharmaceutical company which is listed in Brussels, it emerged yesterday. McKillop was one of the four bank executives who was publicly blamed for his role in the near-collapse of RBS. He was hired [...]
Bank of China moves into One Lothbury

November 26, 2009

THE Bank of China, the world’s fourth largest bank, yesterday signed an £86m deal for the prestigious City building One Lothbury. The Bank of China, which currently occupies 48,000 sq ft at 90 Cannon Street, will move between 250 and 300 of its UK staff into its new flagship office, with the hope of expanding [...]
Japanese Prime Minister warns of chance of double dip recession

November 26, 2009

JAPAN’S Prime Minister has warned that his country risks falling into a “double-dip” recession. Yukio Hatoyama is the first leader of a major power to admit that the recent recovery could be a false dawn. Japan’s export industry has been hit by the soaring yen and Hatoyama fears that the economy will again plunge into [...]
New finance chief lined up for the EU

November 26, 2009

FINLAND’S Olli Rehn is likely to take charge of European Union economic and monetary affairs and Spaniard Joaquin Almunia is expected to become the bloc’s antitrust chief, EU diplomats said yesterday. The posts are two of the most powerful in the European Commission, the EU’s executive, and the changes are part of efforts to increase [...]
DMGT beats estimates for profit slump

November 26, 2009

NEWSPAPER group Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) yesterday beat forecasts with a 23 per cent drop in pre-tax profits, adding that profitability at its UK consumer businesses showed a sharp improvement in the latter half of the year. The group, which owns the Daily Mail mid-market newspaper, said adjusted revenue fell eight per cent [...]
Tesco is serious about building a profitable telco

November 26, 2009

It’s hard to think of two brands more different than Apple and Tesco. One is famed for its sleek gadgets, while the other piles high and sells cheap the kind of electronic goods that wouldn’t look out of place in a Latvian discount store. A Lodus television and a Technika DVD player might be cheap, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

November 26, 2009

AEA TECHNOLOGYRBS yesterday reduced its target price for AEA Technology to 27p and moderated its stance to “Hold” – despite the group’s 43 per cent jump in revenues and eight per cent lift in operating profits in the half year. But RBS?said it was concerned about AEA’s increased pension deficit of £137.6m. However, the broker [...]
Advertising and distribution setbacks drag on US profits at publisher Future

November 26, 2009

NICHE publisher Future saw profits plunge over the past year after it was plagued by distribution problems in the US and freefalling advertising revenues. Future, whose magazines and websites range from computer gaming to cycling, said yesterday that adjusted pre-tax profit fell 41 per cent to £7.6m over the year to September, down from £12.9m [...]