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☆ Australia's Tyro Payments shares jump on takeover talks with Westpac, others
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Australia's Tyro Payments Ltd (TYR.AX) confirmed on Tuesday it was in preliminary takeover talks with selected parties, including no.3 lender Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), sending shares of the payment terminals firm up more than 5%. Tyro last month rejected a A$1.27 per share indicative offer from a private equity consortium led by Potentia Capital Management. Westpac on Tuesday separately confirmed the talks in a brief statement and said a potential deal would strengthen its small business proposition. "From a Tyro perspective, it's clear that Westpac would have significantly more synergies than the PE consortium. He said the logic of synergies from a deal for Tyro should also apply to Westpac's rivals National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and Australia an New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ.AX).

☆ ASOS shares drop on talks with lenders to change borrowing terms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - ASOS (ASOS.L) shares fell sharply on Monday after the British online fashion retailer said it was in talks with lenders to change the terms of a 350 million pound ($394 million) borrowing facility to provide more flexibility in tough economic times. The statement was issued after Sky News reported ASOS had recently approached its lenders, including Barclays (BARC.L), HSBC (HSBA.L) and Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L), to amend its borrowing agreements. Sky News said the lenders were lining up AlixPartners and law firm Clifford Chance to advise them on an "unfolding situation". It also forecast full-year net debt of about 150 million pounds, which was higher than previous guidance. "This happened towards the end of August and there has been no adverse impact on trading relationships with our suppliers," ASOS said in response.

☆ ASOS in talks with lenders to amend terms of $391 mln facility
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - British online fashion retailer ASOS (ASOS.L) is in talks with lenders to amend the terms of its 350 million pound ($391 million) borrowing facility, it said on Saturday. Sky News said the lenders were lining up AlixPartners and law firm Clifford Chance to advise them on an "unfolding situation". It warned last month that it expected profit before tax in the year to Aug. 31 to be around the bottom end of its guidance of 20 million pounds to 60 million pounds after weaker than projected August sales. ASOS also forecast full-year net debt of about 150 million pounds, which was higher than previous guidance. "This happened towards the end of August and there has been no adverse impact on trading relationships with our suppliers," ASOS said in response.

☆ ASOS in talks to amend credit facility terms
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 15 (Reuters) - British online fashion retailer ASOS (ASOS.L) on Saturday said it was seeking an amendment to the terms of its borrowing agreements. "ASOS is in the final stages of agreeing an amendment to the future financial covenants in its Revolving Credit Facility, which matures in July 2024," the company said in a statement. The online fashion retailer's lenders including Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group were lining up AlixPartners and law firm Clifford Chance to advise them on the unfolding situation, Sky News reported earlier. ASOS said on Saturday it retained a strong liquidity position and called the loan amendments a "prudent step". ($1 = 0.8953 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

By late on Wednesday six banks, including global coordinators Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), had signed the guarantee contract, the sources said. Five years after an 8.2 billion euro ($8 billion) bailout that handed the state its 64% stake, MPS plans to raise the extra cash to lay off staff and bolster capital. The eight banks due to underwrite the MPS issue are willing to backstop only a third of the 900 million euro private portion of the capital raising, one of the sources said. MPS CEO Luigi Lovaglio had until recently not produced the written commitments, triggering a race in the last few days to get all the necessary documents signed. The Tuscan bank has so far secured support from its insurance partner AXA (AXAF.PA), local banking foundations and asset manager Anima Holding (ANIM.MI).

☆ Mizuho’s fintech punt would overdo optimism
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

First, it values Rakuten Securities at an eye-popping 52 times earnings, based on annualised net profit for the six months to end of June. Listed rival Monex (8698.T) only trades at around 13 times earnings, despite sporting a 22% operating margin, better than Rakuten Securities’ 13%. Second, Mizuho’s largesse will benefit parent Rakuten, the Japanese word for optimism. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterSure, Rakuten Securities has rarity value, not least for banks with less of an online presence. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ The UK's abrupt tax cuts are sowing market chaos — and putting policymakers in a no-win situation that threatens economic crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The UK government's plan to slash taxes and stimulate economic growth has backfired spectacularly. The episode risks lifting inflation higher still and levying new economic pain on all Britons. What was introduced as an effort to boost the UK's economic growth is backfiring to an extraordinary degree. The blowback could range from a weaker British pound to a government default, even higher inflation, higher unemployment, a bigger wealth gap, and a crippling recession. According to Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, the aim was to lift the struggling UK economy and cut the risk of a near-term downturn.

☆ Shopify's new guard: Meet the 11 people leading the company after rampant turnover wiped out most of its C-suite
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Here are the people leading the e-commerce company through its next phase. Leinwand was previously senior vice president of engineering at Slack, and before that he was CTO at ServiceNow. Tia Silas, chief talent officerTia Silas, Shopify's chief talent officer. John Asante, chief information-security officerJohn Asante, Shopify's chief information-security officer. Bobby Morrison, chief revenue officerMorrison joined Shopify as chief revenue officer — a new role for Shopify, reporting to the COO — in August.

☆ UK swaps one cost-of-living crisis for another
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

But the budget plans of new Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng may cause a world of pain for mortgage borrowers. Surging interest rates will crimp spending and hurt the housing market, further undermining Truss and Kwarteng’s growth plans. Capital Economics reckons at Monday’s implied levels, mortgage costs could reach their highest level relative to borrowers’ income since 1990. Rather than having to bail them out, regulators and politicians may push lenders to offer repayment holidays or cut interest rates. It will find it equally difficult to let mortgage borrowers suffer alone.

☆ UK lenders halt mortgage deals to customers after market chaos
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Oli Scarff | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON - U.K. lenders Virgin Money, Halifax and Skipton Building Society pulled some of their mortgage deals to customers after the tumult in British bond markets. Virgin Money and Skipton Building Society temporarily paused mortgage offers for new customers, while Halifax — owned by the Lloyds Banking Group — is planning to halt any mortgage products with fees where lower interest rates are usually offered. Skipton Building Society said they had paused their products in order to "reprice following the market response over recent days." Markets have begun pricing in a base rate rise to as high as 6% for next year, from 2.25% currently, raising concerns among mortgage lenders and borrowers. "Households refinancing a two-year fixed rate mortgage in the first half of next year will see monthly repayments jump to about £1,490 early next year, from £863 when they took on the mortgage two years prior."

☆ Market chaos forces UK lenders to pull mortgage products
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Brokers said the moves were likely just the start of a big shift in Britain's mortgage market. The country's largest mortgage lender Halifax said it was withdrawing its fee-paying mortgage products - where borrowers could pay an arrangement fee in exchange for a lower interest rate - and moving to a full fee-free range. "In response, we will be temporarily withdrawing our New Business Product Range with immediate effect." Virgin Money said its withdrawal of mortgage products for new customers would take place at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT). "That will feed into higher mortgage rates and, as always, it'll be the taxpayer left carrying the can," said Lewis Shaw, founder of broker Shaw Financial Services.

☆ Shopify's C-suite revamp could signal more acquisitions and a focus on services over software, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Madeline Stone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Most of Shopify's C-suite has been replaced in the past two years. "There was some hope that they would reprioritize software, whether it's marketing-automation software or customer-engagement software," he added. The former chief technology officer Jean-Michel Lemieux, chief legal officer Joe Frasca, and chief talent officer Brittany Forsyth all departed in 2021. The chief product officer Craig Miller left the company a few months before that, in fall 2020. Shopify has yet to formally fill the chief product officer role, whose responsibilities Lütke said he would take on in the wake of Miller's departure.

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