The Business Matrix: Tuesday 9 August 2011

Markets suffer more turmoil

Stock markets around the world suffered another day of huge volatility as investors continued to fret about the global economy and the indebtedness of both the US and the eurozone. However, an intervention by the European Central Bank did ease some pressure on European bond markets where borrowing costs fell back. MORE

Final Docklands tower approved

Canary Wharf Group is to begin building a new office block in Docklands. The tower, on Churchill Place, will see the development, as it was originally envisaged by planners, completed more than two decades after construction began. The move also represents a vote of confidence in London’s commercial property sector. MORE

Unilever sells Chicken Tonight

Unilever has sold its Chicken Tonight and Ragu sauce brands to Symington’s, the food group behind Golden Wonder snacks. The deal covers the UK and Ireland, where Chicken Tonight was made famous by TV campaigns fronted by the former Arsenal footballer Ian Wright. Unilever will continue to own the brands in all other markets.

Barratt in talks over loan deal

Barratt Developments yesterday confirmed it was in talks to sell off part of its portfolio of “shared equity” loans. The move is being closely watched because if Barratt is successful it could lead to others trying similar moves and kickstart a revival of the trade in mortgage-linked products. Barratt has a £170m portfolio of shared equity loans.

Morgan Sindall profits slip back

The construction group Morgan Sindall saw profits tumble 9 per cent in the first half as conditions in the industry “remained challenging”. Pre-tax profits fell almost a 10th to £16.7m in the six months to the end of June, following a poor performance from its construction and infrastructure arm.

Telecity splashes out in Ireland

Telecity, the data centres specialist, has unveiled a 20 per cent rise in revenues to £122.2m – and adjusted pre-tax profits of £31m, up 44.6 per cent. The company also announced yesterday that it is to pay £87.6m to buy Dublin-based Data Electronics Group, in a deal that will make it the market leader in Ireland.

BofA hit by $10bn AIG lawsuit

Shares in Bank of America, one of the largest high-street banks in the US, plunged by almost a fifth amid fears the company will have to raise more money to cope with mounting legal problems. AIG, the insurer nationalised during the 2008 financial crisis, launched a $10bn lawsuit against the bank yesterday.

StanChart invests in Saudi builder

The private equity arm of financial services group Standard Chartered has secured a stake in a Saudi construction company in a deal worth $75m. The UK-listed bank revealed its buyout arm had taken a minority stake in Construction Product Holding Company, a subsidiary of Bin Laden Group.

Greece bans short selling again

Short selling will be banned on the Athens stock exchange for two months from today, Greece’s financial regulator said in an effort to stem a stockmarket slump last night. This is the third time since the eruption of the global economic crisis in 2008 that Greece has prevented bets against its stocks.

Royal London to shed 220 jobs

The insurer Royal London will close the Liverpool headquarters of Royal Liver, the business it bought in July, at the cost of 222 jobs. Following the takeover, Royal London launched a review of the business and yesterday said Royal Liver’s Liverpool operations would be integrated into its Wilmslow, Cheshire, base.