Oodles of cash: no wonder Murdoch wanted to buy May 2, 2012 SO that’s what all the fuss was about. Anyone wondering why Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy BSkyB outright, and why he will not sell down his 39 per cent stake without a fight, need only look at the satellite broadcaster’s third quarter results. Although the 15,000 new TV subscribers added in the quarter is nothing [...]
Executives beware the winds of shareholder activism April 30, 2012 BARELY a day goes by without another incidence of shareholder activism. Investors in blue chip firms ranging from hedge funds to pharmaceuticals have been flexing their muscles with remarkable frequency recently, expressing their displeasure on executive pay and strategic direction. It is debatable how much of this is to do with policy changes. In the [...]
Troubling times for retailers to the squeezed middle April 29, 2012 SPARE a thought for the squeezed middle. No, not the ordinary family as defined by Ed Miliband, but the places they shop and the things they buy. The mid-market consumer firm is finding the going very tough indeed. There has been much written about Tesco’s troubles in recent months, punctuated by a series of ignominious [...]
Oil major won’t want to be a small fish for long April 24, 2012 SOMETIMES being a small fish in a big pond pays off. That is certainly the case for shareholders in Aim-listed Cove Energy, which Shell has agreed to buy for £1.12bn. The 220p-a-share offer represents a 96 per cent premium on Cove’s stock price before it put itself up for sale. Not bad for a bunch [...]
London Tube workers vote to strike April 17, 2012 London Underground staff are set to walk out for 72 hours next week after they voted “four to one” in favour of strike action. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) said its workers would cease work at 4pm on 24 April and not return until after 4pm on 27 April. The dispute is [...]
London Tube workers vote to strike April 17, 2012 London Underground staff are set to walk out for 72 hours next week after they voted “four to one” in favour of strike action. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers union (RMT) said its workers would cease work at 4pm on 24 April and not return until after 4pm on 27 April. The dispute is [...]
American buyout giant’s gem plan could quickly lose sparkle April 15, 2012 KKR’s plan to merge the diamond operations of Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton might sound ambitious, but the deal loses its sparkle upon closer inspection. The market for the proverbial girl’s best friend is hot, about that there is no doubt. Demand is holding up even in mature markets while emerging countries are quickly falling [...]
RAPID RESPONSES April 11, 2012 Flight risk [Re: The economics of the airline industry are sheer hell, yesterday] I’m surprised David Crow has chosen to lump me in with Vijay Malya (the Indian entrepreneur behind Kingfisher Airlines) in his otherwise well observed critique of the modern airline industry. As the largest shareholder in easyJet I have, since 2008, been vocal [...]
Why most investors don’t care if Diamond gets rich April 9, 2012 IT used to be big news if the likes of Standard Life, Scottish Widows, Fidelity and Aviva combined forces to vote against a company’s remuneration report. Such a roster of big British institutions would have had the clout and the votes to make the company reconsider its intentions or risk a very bloody nose. Hence [...]
Unite scored an own goal with the tanker strike – but so has Cameron March 28, 2012 LEN McCluskey, general secretary of the Unite trade union, positions himself as an arch-enemy of the government. Of the Bob Crow school of diplomacy, McCluskey remains convinced civil disobedience is necessary to halt the coalition’s deficit reduction programme. And he seems hell-bent on ruining the Olympic Games with mass industrial action. Now might seem a [...]