3 Dead In Storm That Caused Oil Spill A storm on Sunday in the Black Sea sank at least five ships, killing at least three sailors and causing an oil spill.... Read Full Article Music Review | David Del Tredici: Ripples Of Sensuality, And An Insatiable Vampire The composer David Del Tredici turned 70 on Friday, and the New Music Collective of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music observed the occasion with an evening of his recent music on Saturday.... Read Full Article Merck Reports Risk Of Its New Pain Pill WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) ? A study by Merck of its pain reliever Arcoxia showed similar risks of heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems compared with another painkiller, diclofenac, fed... Read Full Article How Much For Those Baby Photos? Can a few snapshots of a baby or a bride, accompanied by a fawning article, really be worth millions of dollars? In the competitive world of celebrity magazines, they just might be.... Read Full Article IPhone Set To Ring Up Strong Results For Apple No consumer device has stirred the worldwide interest to match Apple’s iPhone, due to go on sale in the US on June 29.... Read Full Article |
Barclays Holds Open Possibility Of A Rights IssueBarclays held open the possibility of a rights issue yesterday but hinted that it was seeking other ways of beefing up its balance sheet. Marcus Agius, the bank’s chairman, refused to rule out a cash call but told investors at its annual meeting that Barclays had other options open to it. Barclays, Britain’s third-biggest bank, has been fighting off speculation of a rights issue since Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) broke the ice with a £12 billion capital raising to prop up its balance sheet earlier this week. However, Mr Agius said that Barclays could boost its Tier 1 capital, a core measure of financial strength, by retaining earnings – paying out a smaller dividend – managing its balance sheet or raising new equity. He said: “Because of the relative strength of our performance, we have options and we will take those options.” British banks rule out US remediesCultural difference weighs heavily in the UK financial circles as big players face their problems with British stoicism Background Goldman loses star sub-prime trader Hedge funds stars made $2bn from US sub-prime Watchdog to introduce rules for banking risk Citigroup withdraws loans to US students JP Morgan profits dive 50% on mortgage losses Multimedia Full credit crunch coverage Video briefing: interest rate cut Video briefing: global market instabilityBackground Dollar boost as G7 threaten to intervene Relief as Bank cuts interest rate to 5% Credit crisis: Experts assess how bad it is Who caused this nightmare? The blame spreads Sub-prime mortgages explained Related Links RBS to sell Angel Trains and raise £10bn Banks set sights on borrowing more than £50bnMr Agius was speaking after Barclays said that its first-quarter profits would fall from a year ago, after disruptions in the financial markets hit Barclays Capital and Barclays Global Investors, its investment banking and fund management arms. The focus has turned on Barclays since, next to RBS, it has the lowest Tier 1 capital ratios in the sector. Those ratios are expected to come under further pressure as Barclays takes more writedowns on its assets. It gave no futher details yesterday but Alex Potter, banks analyst at Collins Stewart, said the writedowns could be as high as £6.2 billion in the first quarter. Barclays wrote down £1.6 billion for 2007. Simon Maughan, banks analyst at MF Global, said that he interpreted the lack of detail from Barclays as good news. He said: “This suggests to us that Barclays has no immediate problems, however, others are interpreting it as the bank is hiding something”. He said any capital raising was most likely to be via a scrips dividend, or payment of the dividend in shares not cash. A placing with a foreign investor or a rights issue were less likely, he said. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationWeb Movies Show Why DVDs Sell...Chrysler Said to Seek Help From G.M. on a Big S.U.V.... Macy’s Swings to Profit... For Women, a Slow Narrowing of the Pay Gap... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Barclays Holds Open Possibility Of A Rights Issue |
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