News

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

Rights approval at Unicredit

November 16, 2009

SHAREHOLDERS in UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, yesterday approved a rights issue of up to €4bn (£3.56bn) aimed at shoring up lagging capital ratios. The clearance by shareholders was widely expected. The capital increase is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2010, the bank said. UniCredit , Europe’s fourth-biggest bank [...]
ECB wants banks to get set for a slow, steady exit

November 16, 2009

THE European Central Bank will not drop all of its extra liquidity support until it becomes concerned about risks on inflation, governing council member Athanasios Orphanides said yesterday. Orphanides said inflation expectations over the ECB’s policy horizon were on the low side and the ECB’s current “very accommodative” stance with record low interest rates and [...]
Planemakers cheer signs of turnaround

November 16, 2009

AIRBUS and Boeing yesterday hailed signs of a pick-up in the battered aerospace industry and predicted that the Middle East would lead the fight-back. Airbus said figures last month showed falls in passenger numbers had bottomed out and that talks with airlines at this week’s Dubai air show suggested evidence of recovery. While western airlines [...]
SVG Capital eyes the sale or float of its investments as the market improves

November 16, 2009

PRIVATE EQUITY investor SVG Capital said yesterday that prospects for selling on or floating parts of its investment portfolio had improved thanks to stronger financial markets. “We believe that the prospects for realisation activity, particularly for the more mature and defensive investments, are improving,” SVG said, adding that market conditions has “clearly been improving in [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

November 16, 2009

TULLETT PREBONNoble downgraded its stance on Tullett Prebon to “neutral” following its interim management statement, in which it said that 81 brokers had been poached by BGC Partners and that foreign exchange rates have started working against it. Noble estimates that these two factors could negatively impact its 2010 operating profit. LANCASHIREKBC Peel Hunt switched [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

November 16, 2009

Newton Investment ManagementThe asset manager has promoted Simon Pryke to the post of head of its private investment management division. Pryke, who will also join the board, was previously investment leader for global research at Newton, a position he had held since 2003. He joined the firm in 1996 as a financials analyst. Roger Wilkinson, [...]
Canon in bid for Oce

November 16, 2009

CANON plans to buy Dutch copier and printer maker Oce for €730m (£650m), in a challenge to rivals Ricoh and Xerox in the hunt for growth. Canon, the copier and digital camera maker, and Oce said in a joint statement yesterday that Canon would offer €8.60 per share, for Oce’s shares, a premium of 70 [...]
Dragon Oil investor to reject bid

November 16, 2009

ANOTHER shareholder in explorer Dragon Oil yesterday said it would reject a takeover bid from controlling shareholder Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), that values Dragon at $3.9bn (£2.32bn). Paris-based Carmignac Gestion said the bid undervalued Dragon’s assets and prospects for growth, boosting the chances that ENOC will not succeed with its bid and may be [...]
Cisco hikes its offer for Tandberg

November 16, 2009

CISCO Systems raised its bid for Tandberg by 10 per cent to 19bn Norwegian crowns (£2.02bn), a move widely expected to win over shareholders of the video conferencing company. Cisco said yesterday its new bid of 170 crowns per share has the approval of holders of more than 40 per cent of Tandberg shares, including [...]
Pork firm Cranswick brings home bacon

November 16, 2009

PORK supplier Cranswick yesterday posted a higher first-half profit, boosted by rise in demand from grocery retailers and European discounters, and said it was confident of meeting expectations for the full year. The group said pre-tax profits jumped 22 per cent to £21.3m in the six months to 30 September, from £17.5m the year before. [...]