Admiral ups profits 25pc March 2, 2011 PROFITS at motor and home insurer Admiral jumped almost a quarter in 2010 but investors shied away yesterday over fears its growth may not be sustainable. UK growth drove Admiral’s pre-tax profit up to £266m from £216m in 2009 in a seventh straight year of growth, while turnover rose 47 per cent to £1.58bn from [...]
A trite portrayal of war, and a horse that (gasp!) can’t act January 12, 2012 Film WAR HORSE Cert: 12A ** WAR Horse, Stephen Spielberg’s latest, shouldn’t be a film about horses, but it is. As a film, in which a boy’s beloved horse is sold to war and passes through the hands of a series of owners all caught up in war, it did nothing for me. Horses cannot [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 25, 2011 ELECTROCOMPONENTS UBS rates the electrical component distributor as “neutral” with a target price of 205p, ahead of a first half report on 14 November. With sales growth of 11 per cent year-on-year already reported, the broker expects profit before tax and amortisation to rise 19 per cent to £59.9m, and earning per share up 18 [...]
Remembering the Iron Lady’s legacy: Why Margaret Thatcher still matters November 21, 2011 HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR THE place is Britain; the year, 1978. It is the Winter of Discontent. Labour unrest has shut down public services, paralysing the nation for months on end. Rubbish is piled high on the street. The government been obliged to supplicate for a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Soon the Soviet trade [...]
Remembering the Iron Lady’s legacy: Why Margaret Thatcher still matters November 21, 2011 HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR THE place is Britain; the year, 1978. It is the Winter of Discontent. Labour unrest has shut down public services, paralysing the nation for months on end. Rubbish is piled high on the street. The government been obliged to supplicate for a loan from the International Monetary Fund. Soon the Soviet trade [...]
True owners bear risks and rewards – UK shareholders should not be any different January 4, 2012 IT IS early in the life of Professor John Kay’s review into the operation of UK equity markets, commissioned by Vince Cable. But it is already clear both from the responses to the first call for evidence and from John Kay’s reputation that it is going to shine an uncomfortable light on one of the [...]
Amanda Staveley seals her biggest deal October 31, 2011 She reportedly turned down Prince Andrew, and on Saturday Middle Eastern dealmaker Amanda Staveley rejected Mehrdad Ghodoussi twice before accepting him as her new husband at an opulent Buckinghamshire wedding. The acceptance on the third time of asking – as is customary in Iranian tradition – was one of two marriage ceremonies at the union [...]
THE TIPSTER November 7, 2011 LAST week’s reports of tumbling profits and the ongoing confusion over the economic outlook for Europe is weighing on International Airlines Group, the stock of the merged BA and Iberia entity, IAG. Even the prospect of adding more prized take off slots at Heathrow, through the reported plans to purchase competitor BMI, is failing to [...]
THE TIPSTER November 7, 2011 LAST week’s reports of tumbling profits and the ongoing confusion over the economic outlook for Europe is weighing on International Airlines Group, the stock of the merged BA and Iberia entity, IAG. Even the prospect of adding more prized take off slots at Heathrow, through the reported plans to purchase competitor BMI, is failing to [...]
Salomon bond salesman to acclaimed author October 4, 2011 MICHAEL Lewis was born in New Orleans and educated at Princeton University and the London School of Economics. When he was twenty-four he started working at Salomon Brothers. Finding the experience preposterous he stumbled out three years later in 1988. His bestseller, Liar’s Poker is widely considered the book that defined Wall Street in the [...]