Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
The world’s poorest man has handed himself in to French authorities May 19, 2014 Jerome Kerviel, the ex-Societe Generale trader who has more debt than anyone else in the world, has turned himself in to French authorities to begin a three-year jail sentence. His return home is something of an end point to a saga that goes from huge unauthorised trades on the eve of the financial crisis, to [...]
Carphone and Dixons dial up £3.8bn merger May 15, 2014 DIXONS Retail and Carphone Warehouse shares slid into the red yesterday after the high street giants’ plans for a £3.8bn merger was given a mixed reception. The new group, which will be named Dixons Carphone, aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of smartphones in people’s lives and the so-called internet of things – where household [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 15 May 2014 May 14, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Sanctions put squeeze on Russia Russian companies are facing tougher lending restrictions from western banks as sanctions against the country start to bite. Banks are insisting that new loans to Russian businesses that are not directly targeted by sanctions carry clauses forcing immediate repayment or default if sanctions affect those companies. “If someone [...]
Brand Index: Birds Eye fights to thaw shoppers’ hearts after horsemeat May 13, 2014 THE PAST 18 months have not been easy for the frozen foods sector as its tries to rebuild its reputation in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. Some brands wrote open letters to consumers to try to restore trust and improve perception, but today I want to look at Birds Eye, a company that overhauled [...]
Betters tip Saga stock for strong rise after float May 12, 2014 INSURANCE and consumer services group Saga could be worth up to £2.92bn, well above the expected flotation valuation of £2bn to £2.5bn, according to trades on IG’s grey market in recent days. If the traders are correct, Saga will join other recent initial public offerings (IPO) including Royal Mail, Twitter and Boohoo where the share’s [...]
London Report: Inflation report to give clues for future rates rise May 11, 2014 ALL EYES will be on Bank of England governor Mark Carney this week when he delivers the week’s big economic set piece event with the Bank’s quarterly inflation report on Wednesday. Investors will be hoping his forecasts for growth and inflation give a clearer signal about when interest rates will finally rise. Britain’s growth forecasts [...]
Saga outlines plan to sell half of firm to public if demand is high May 8, 2014 OVER-50s holiday and insurance provider Saga could sell up to half of the business to retail and institutional investors if the company prices its forthcoming float on London’s stock market at the top end of its 185p to 245p price range. The business, which was originally listed in London in 1978 before being taken private [...]
Inside Track: The City’s broking shake-up continues with Oriel sale May 8, 2014 WHEN the founders of Oriel Securities debated a name for the research and stockbroking firm in 2002 they couldn’t initially come to an agreement. Simon Bragg, now chief executive, suggested it should be called Oriel because three of the six had been to the Oxford college of the same name. Now, 12 years later, the [...]
CVC binges on Asian fast food with KFC deal May 8, 2014 LONDON-based private equity firm CVC Capital continued its Asian fast-food binge yesterday by snapping up the South Korean franchise of KFC. The London-headquartered business, which is currently in the process of floating insurer Saga on the London Stock Exchange and also owns Formula One, will pay 100bn won (£57.7m) to buy the fried chicken franchise [...]
King stock gets crushed as app spending slows May 7, 2014 CANDY Crush Saga developer King Digital saw its share price tumble far below its IPO pricing yesterday after disappointing investors with its first quarter results. Revenue beat expectations at $607m (£357.8m) and profit rose nearly 150 per cent at $127.2m, but the number of players paying for in-app purchases declined from 12.2m last quarter to [...]