A consortium headed by US investment bank JPMorgan could soon take over HBOS, the Daily Telegraph reports.
While the members of the group have yet to be finalised, the bank is thought to have already held talks with parties including the National Australia Bank and private equity firms.
The Spanish financial services firm Santander, which recently announced a successful takeover bid for rival UK mortgage lender Alliance & Leicester, is also likely to be approached, sources indicated.
For its part, JPMorgan is understood to be more interested in taking up an advisory role for the consortium, rather than purchasing large pieces of HBOS itself.
This is due to the fact that the bank is otherwise engaged, after taking over stricken investment bank Bear Stearns in March.
Commenting on the potential acquisition to Bloomberg, Singapore-based Leslie Phang at Schroders said: The trend in consolidation in the financials is poised to accelerate.''
None of the parties apparently involved in the deal wished to comment.
Monday, July 28, 2008
HBOS 'might be bought out by JPMorgan'
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
TietoEnator Turnaround Continues
IT services company TietoEnator has reported a 270% increase in net profit to 18.7m euros ($30m) for the second quarter, on revenueup 11% at 480m euros ($761m).
For the first half, the company reported a 20% increase in net profit to 35m euros ($55m) on revenue up 8% at 948m euros ($1.50bn). During the quarter, processing and network revenue grew 16% to 113m euros ($179m), healthcare and welfare revenue rose 25% to 42m euros ($67m), telecoms and media revenue increased 10% to 178m euros ($282m), and banking and insurance revenue grew 9% to 77m euros ($122m). Geographically, Finland and Sweden contributed to 74% of revenue.
Hannu Syrjälä, president and chief executive at TietoEnator, said: "The second-quarter results strengthen our view that we are on the right track in turning the company around. We have concluded several major agreements in 2008 and succeeded in outpacing our market in many areas, reflecting the good momentum in the company.”
Monday, July 21, 2008
Government launches rent now buy later scheme
The pilot project will be open to households earning under £60,000, who will be able to rent the property at a discounted rate for two or three years, and will be given the option to buy it.
Rents will be 80% or less of the real market value, in order to save up for a deposit.
The scheme, which will be managed by the Housing Corporation, will be open to buyers who qualify for the government's new-build HomeBuy scheme, but are currently unable to buy. They would have an option to buy 25% or more of the property at any time under the scheme.
The government had previously extended the shared ownership scheme from key workers to those households earning £60,000 or less.
Bids will have to be made for the rent first, buy later scheme through registered social landlords.
Lembit Öpik, Liberal Democrat shadow housing minister, says: "Another day, another new affordable housing announcement. The government’s hot air will not hide the fact that 10% fewer shared ownership homes were provided last year than in 2006.
"What is strangely absent from this announcement is any suggestion of how the government imagines the rent-to-buy scheme will be paid for."
He adds: "With building firms making redundancies and councils strapped for cash, who does the government expect to fund it? Councils should freed to borrow so they can buy up empty homes to meet the huge demand in social housing."
Peter Heigho (Trigod/ The Key)
Peter Heigho, the designer and founder of both the ‘Trigold’ and ‘The Key’ software systems, has joined Enterprise Group as its head of e-commerce.
Heigho is tasked with developing Enterprise’s back-end processing systems and the ongoing integration of EDGEv2 with a growing list of third party systems.
This appointment follows recent announcements from Enterprise regarding high profile promotions and departures, indicating that Enterprise is rapidly adapting its senior team to the changing market conditions and its future strategy.
Michael Clapper, Enterprise Group’s CEO, says: “Peter’s track record speaks for itself and we are extremely fortunate to secure his invaluable experience which will help ensure our future success.”
“We now have over 10,000 brokers using the broker-facing ‘EDGEv2’ system, and we have already launched two of our new consumer-facing affiliate sites.
"Our strategy is now to focus on our strengths as a technology provider - specialising in the mortgage and loans space, and adding a range of products where consumers and brokers need accurate and fast comparison and execution.”
Heigho adds: “I have been seriously impressed with Enterprise, its team and its EDGE system.
"Having worked very closely with many systems and teams within the mortgage industry, I am in no doubt that Enterprise has a very exciting future and I’m very much looking forward to being a part of it."
Monday, July 07, 2008
Nationwide launches 48-strong broker sales force
Nationwide has launched a 48-strong broker sales force in a bid to show its commitment to the intermediary market.
Each of the business development managers will be supported by a sales support adviser who will handle queries and trouble-shoot problems when BDMs are unavailable.
Nationwide says it also has a dedicated team of telephone-based business
development advisers who will concentrate on intermediaries based in
more remote geographic locations.
The sales force will be headed up by head of sales Ian Andrew who joined last year from Northern Rock.
Nationwide group executive director Matthew Wyles says: "At a time
when some lenders are pulling back, Nationwide is renewing its long-term
commitment to the intermediary market. The new sales force is part of a
broader initiative which also includes a review our mortgage processes
to make them more broker friendly and a slick new online system."
Friday, July 04, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
C&G appoints new intermediary sales director
Cheltenham & Gloucester has appointed Jon Farley as its new intermediary sales director.
Farley joins from Barclays where he was regional sales and service director at its premier banking division. He will start at C&G on July 7.
He will be responsible for growing and developing C&G’s intermediary proposition in the marketplace.
C&G managing director Joy Griffiths says: “Jon will be a strong addition to our leadership team. He has extensive experience of sales and relationship management in a number of industry sectors and will play a key role in ensuring that we continue to grow our intermediary business.”
Farley adds:“C&G enjoys a longstanding, well regarded reputation within the intermediary market and this appointment reflects a real commitment to this sector. I am looking forward to taking on the challenge of this new role and continuing the growth of the C&G offer.”
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
87% of assessed firms failed to meet March TCF deadline
Only 13 per cent of firms assessed by the FSA met the March treating customers fairly deadline, which required them to have management information in place to test their TCF systems.
The FSA says that many firms have invested “significant time and energy working to measure TCF” and the regulator still expects 80 per cent will meet the December deadline.
The FSA has published its latest update on firms’ progress towards the December deadline, which requires all firms to be able to demonstrate they are consistently treating their customers fairly.
The regulator says it will take “tough action” on the worst performing firms, including enforcement action with increased penalties, a requirement for firms to hire external consultants and visits from FSA specialist teams to assess firms’ progress.
The regulator has published further material illustrating good and poor practice as part of its update, using examples observed during its recent assessments.
The FSA says an update on the progress of small firms in particular will be published early next year.
FSA director of treating customers fairly Sarah Wilson says: “Having appropriate MI or other measures in place puts firms in a position where they can measure the quality of the outcomes they are delivering for consumers. These results show that adequate MI is not yet fully in place in the firms assessed – it does not mean that they are treating their customers unfairly.
“However, we now expect all firms to maintain their momentum and to undertake a significant amount of further work to meet the December deadline of demonstrating that they are consistently treating their customers fairly.”