| Heard Off the Street: National City at bottom of local heap
One of Wall Street's not-ready-for-subprime players is a likely candidate for this year's worst-performing stock in the PG/Bloomberg index of local stocks. Shares of National City [Ticker: NCC] are off 43 percent this year, closing Friday at $20.86, down $1.69 for the week. Most of the damage to the stock had been done before Oct. 24, when National City reported a 69 percent drop in third-quarter profits, including a $152 million loss from its mortgage banking business. Things may have been a lot worse if the Cleveland-based bank holding company had not sold its First Franklin subprime mortgage business to Merrill Lynch late last year. Included in the transaction were about $5.6 billion in First Franklin mortgages National City was holding in its loan portfolio.
Shareholders keep clinging to their Northern Rock
AS THE Northern Rock shareholders meet at Newcastle's Royal Station Hotel tomorrow lunchtime, not all will be celebrating the sudden interest from the likes of Sir Richard Branson and former Abbey boss Luqman Arnold in acquiring their stricken bank. Luqman and Branson will battle it out while boss Adam Applegarth maps out his exit strategy and the Government pumps in billions to protect savers. Meanwhile, the people who own the company have been largely ignored. .
South Africa: TWP Does BEE Deal With Vunani
MINE engineering, construction and project management company TWP Holdings has done a black economic empowerment deal worth R284m with Vunani Capital. It is expected to become effective with TWP's listing on the JSE main board before the end of this month. .
Pair blame eco blunder
AN East Coast couple who poured their life savings into a luxury eco-tourism camp are blaming a bureaucratic bungle for the collapse of their business. Tim and Archana Brammall were forced to close down their five-star tourism venture in the Freycinet National Park four months ago after a sea eagle's nest was found nearby. But the couple say the State Government knew about the nest in 2003, well before it advertised for public tender and leased the site to them. "After operating for only three months we were suddenly given 10 days' notice to vacate the site when the State Government couldn't hide from its error any longer," Mr Brammall said. The couple are now facing bankruptcy and lost reputation in the tourism market. "What they've done is destroy our business simply because the Tasmanian Government failed to undertake basic environmental studies," Mr Brammall said.
Americas: Location becomes a deal-breaker
North America has long been a stronghold of management consulting. Companies have been eager users of consulting services and did not hesitate to pursue outsourcing and offshoring as the capabilities and cost savings available in other regions became evident. While the US continues to be the largest consulting market, it is mature to a large degree and no longer the fastest growing. .
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