RAPID responses May 1, 2012 Brain drain [Re: It’s time for the supporters of the single currency to apologise, yesterday] An excellent article. As someone who works in recruitment, many of my best applicants are from Greece, Portugal, Spain and increasingly Italy. But not too many from Ireland, yet. The irony is that these are the most highly-skilled and mission-critical [...]
Norwich oil firm Acteon on the market for £1bn April 22, 2012 BRITISH oil services firm Acteon is up for sale for around £1bn as its private equity majority shareholder seeks to cash in, according to reports. American investor First Reserve has reportedly appointed bankers JP Morgan to dispose of the Norwich-based firm. First Reserve, which could not be reached for comment, bought a 52 per cent [...]
Norwich oil firm Acteon on the market for £1bn April 22, 2012 BRITISH oil services firm Acteon is up for sale for around £1bn as its private equity majority shareholder seeks to cash in, according to reports. American investor First Reserve has reportedly appointed bankers JP Morgan to dispose of the Norwich-based firm. First Reserve, which could not be reached for comment, bought a 52 per cent [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 18, 2011 KESA Arden Partners rates the electrical goods retailer as neutral after a “dismal” first quarter trading update and cut the target price to 90p. It said it had little confidence in either the group’s earnings visibility, because of uncertainty about the future of Comet and Eurozone worries, or in the management team. Arden cut its [...]
High street brands in fight for middle ground October 11, 2011 ACCORDING to YouGov’s Household Economic Activity Tracker, 55 per cent of UK consumers are more price conscious than they were a month ago, compared to only two per cent who are less price conscious than in September. With the uncertainty about the economy continuing and people keen to make sure they are not overspending, winning [...]
Ericsson beats hopes due to margin boost April 25, 2012 THE World’s largest mobile network gear maker Ericsson reported first-quarter core profit above expectations yesterday as it got a boost from higher margin network projects. But it warned that operators remained cautious on spending due to the weak global economic outlook. Earnings before interest and tax, excluding the company’s loss-making joint ventures, but including restructuring [...]
Hamilton hits out at McLaren over slow stops May 27, 2012 LEWIS Hamilton took another swipe at McLaren yesterday after slow pit-stops cost him a place on the podium at the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull’s Mark Webber held off a string of closely-following cars to become the sixth different winner from the opening six races – the first time this has happened at the start [...]
Inferno mars Williams’ first win for eight years May 13, 2012 WILLIAMS’ first win in Formula One since 2004 was tainted yesterday after an horrific petrol fire at the Spanish Grand Prix left dozens of people requiring treatment. A superb drive by Pastor Maldonado ended in his first ever victory at this level, yet soon after the celebrations a fuel explosion ripped through the Williams garage [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 2, 2011 HENNES & MAURITZ JP Morgan Cazenove rates the Swedish clothing retailer as “underweight” with a target price of Skr195.80 (£18.29), issuing an alert as it sees gross margin risks accelerate. The broker says H&M has entered the fourth quarter with very high inventories, with like-for-like sales deteriorating in the first month. With the implication that [...]
Here is the Next step for Marks & Spencer to take November 8, 2011 TWENTY years ago, the UK was in recession and Marks & Spencer had just changed its boss: some things never change. Under Rick Greenbury, M&S went on to have a good 1990s, before over-expansion led to the inevitable and painful correction, under a new management team. Twenty years on, the competition is much tougher and [...]