News

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

Shake-up talks at Network Rail

August 16, 2009

RICK Haythornthwaite, the chairman of Network Rail, is holding meetings with the company’s members throughout September and October to discuss changes to the group’s corporate governance. Among the changes being discussed is a motion to slash the number of members from 106 to around 30, to make the company more manageable.Network Rail doesn’t have investors, [...]
Keydata set to break bad news

August 16, 2009

INVESTORS are preparing for bad news today from a creditors’ meeting at failed structured product firm Keydata, with the firm expected to say they will only get back “pennies in the pound” of their outlay. The 5,500 investors in Keydata’s Secure Income Bond products, which stopped making payouts after it emerged £103m that was supposed [...]
EMPLOYERS BEWARE AS CV FIBS ARE ON THE RISE

August 16, 2009

READERS who have ever been tempted to “embellish” their CV will probably remember the story of disgraced hotel executive, Patrick Imbardelli, who lost everything he had worked for because of such an indiscretion. Imbardelli was forced to resign from his role as head of Asia Pacific at InterContinental Hotels in 2007, just weeks before he [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK

August 16, 2009

OUR BILL this week comes from four diners who sampled the Chino-Latino delights at St Martin’s Lane Hotel’s Asia de Cuba restaurant this week – though you wouldn’t envy them the rum-induced headache the next day. After warming up with Latino cocktails and starters – including fusion-themed tuna, calamari and duck dishes – they moved [...]
Asking prices fall despite lack of stock

August 16, 2009

AVERAGE asking prices slipped back in August despite a scarcity of fresh stock and record search activity, according to property website Rightmove. Rightmove figures showed a 2.2 per cent fall in new sellers’ asking prices as summer sellers price more realistically, putting the average property asking price at £222,762. The yearly decline remained at 3.1 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

August 16, 2009

Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationThe Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has appointed Joe Carrell, currently an official at its global health policy and advocacy group, to head its new London office. Carrell, who joined the foundation in 2001, will move over from Seattle in January 2010, to oversee the organisation’s first European outpost, which is [...]
City broker KBC Peel Hunt defies slump

August 16, 2009

KBC Peel Hunt (KBCPH), the mid-cap broker, yesterday declared a surge in first-half profits and reported it was snapping up market share in the downturn. The City firm said it has doubled its net revenues to £24m for the six months to 30 June, compared to £11.5m for the same period last year. In its [...]
City should not fear new regulations on bonuses

August 16, 2009

No sooner had the Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced new proposals on how financial institutions should determine salaries and incentives last week, they were attacked for being too soft on bankers’ pay. Some critics even went so far as to call for a windfall tax on bonuses. However, now that we have seen several banks [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

August 16, 2009

PREMIER OILGoldman Sachs updated its estimates for Premier Oil following the firm’s recent successes in Vietnam and its prospects in Norway. As a result of the estimate changes, the broker has increased its 12-month price target to 1,507p from 1,423p, and continues to believe that Premier represents good value in its sector.WELLSTREAMAhead of Wellstream’s interim [...]
Brokers remain bullish but still wary on stocks

August 16, 2009

INSTITUTIONAL brokers in the world’s financial centres remain cautiously bullish despite a slight dip in stock market performance at the end of last week. European shares hit earlier a 10-month high before falling back on Friday, the FTSE 100 closing down almost one per cent at 4,714. On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average [...]