News

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

OPEN SKIES

October 1, 2009

LUFTHANSA is buying a 20 per cent stake in BMI from Scandinavian group SAS, it said yesterday. Lufthansa, which already owns most of BMI, is paying £38m for the shares. The takeover will happen on 1 November. Ownership of BMI gives Lufthansa access to several much-coveted takeoff and landing slots at Heathrow airport.
UK publishers plan to charge online

October 1, 2009

The majority of digital publishers in the UK are planning to charge for content online in the next 12 months, according to a survey released yesterday by the Association of Online Publishers. Around 70 per cent of publishers from across the newspaper, magazine and TV industries said they would charge for some content. This compares [...]
Banks to lend more but output suffers

October 1, 2009

UK LENDERS are to make mortgage loans more easily available, according to Bank of England research. The Bank’s Credit Conditions Survey said availability of mortgages had decreased in the third quarter due to a deterioration in wholesale funding markets. But it said lenders expect more home loans to be offered in the final quarter as [...]
Aviva puts saga of inherited estates to bed in 470m deal

October 1, 2009

AVIVA said it will hand out a £470m windfall to around 805,000 policyholders that invested in two of its with-profits funds by Christmas. The special payout comes from inherited estates built up by the funds – pots of money that were hoarded in boom markets to protect against market downturns. The reattribution of the inherited [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

October 1, 2009

WINCANTONJP Morgan initiated coverage of logistics firm Wincanton with a “neutral” rating and a target price of 271p. The broker sees contract logistics as a business area with potential for growth, and noted the firm’s low gearing, relative to its peers, adding it is positioning itself to expand into new high growth areas of logistics. [...]
SLICE OF THE ACTION

October 1, 2009

BRITAIN’S biggest pizza delivery chain, Domino’s, yesterday said it was on track to beat full-year expectations after strong trading in the third quarter, sending its shares to an all-time high. Chief executive Chris Moore (above) reported like-for-like sales rose 10.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 27 September.
Airbus A400M completes trials

October 1, 2009

Technicians have completed crucial engine trials on the Airbus A400M military transport plane, clearing a significant obstacle to its long-delayed maiden flight. The in-flight tests were carried out by fitting one of the A400M’s newly developed turbo-prop engines to the wing of a converted Lockheed C130 Hercules transport plane at Marshall Aerospace, a specialist firm [...]
Embraer fears drop in jet orders

October 1, 2009

Embraer, the world’s third largest commercial jet maker, expects aircraft orders to decline in 2009 as credit dries up because of the global financial crisis, chief executive Frederico Curado said yesterday. The Brazilian company’s order backlog was also likely to show a slight fall in the fourth quarter, he said.
CIT Group eyes rescue options

October 1, 2009

CIT Group is understood to be eyeing a loan of up to $7bn if a planned debt exchange offer fails and the commercial lender has to file for pre-packaged bankruptcy. The board of the lender, which caters to small and mid-sized businesses, is understood to have been meeting to consider a restructuring plan. Under the [...]
ROLET BRINGS IN THE BANKING BIG HITTERS TO EYE UP M&A TARGETS

September 30, 2009

MUCHOS excitement on the markets yesterday after Xavier Rolet continued in his quest to stamp his mark on the London Stock Exchange by axing its long-standing M&A advisers. Rolet has made no secret of his ambitious plans for the exchange, which he hopes to turn into a £10bn business via a number of strategic acquisitions [...]