From Quindell and Gotham City to Uber and the LDTA – five of the biggest business battles to watch out for in 2015 December 22, 2014 Rival camps have banded together, the lines are drawn, battle armour is on and adrenaline is running high. All that's left for spectators to do is grab some popcorn and watch from the ringside. From rival estate agents, to a business targeted by a Batman styled US fund and an influx of tiny new banks [...]
Andrew Tyrie’s claim about banks’ back-door lobbying is holed December 4, 2014 There are few things bankers dread more than being summoned for hours of intellectual flagellation by Andrew Tyrie, the relentless chairman of the Treasury Select Committee. He has scored several notable victories, including a blueprint for regulators to hold reserve powers to break up major UK banks. On his latest target – [...]
Most companies still unprepared to deal with whistleblower risk November 30, 2014 LESS than one in 10 managers at multinational companies says whistleblowing is currently an important issue for their firm, despite the fact that 12 per cent have blown the whistle and nearly half would consider it. The figures from law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer come in the wake of a spate of high-profile whistleblowers this [...]
Tesco in shock return to the US as it rolls out fashion stores April 14, 2014 TESCO is having a second stab at the US market, announcing plans yesterday to open the first franchise stores of its clothing business F&F across the pond. The move comes just seven months after Tesco backed out of its Fresh & Easy venture in the US, booking a £1bn writedown on the move after attempts [...]
Sky agrees deal with O2 owner Telefonica to launch mobile service January 29, 2015 Sky has agreed a deal with Telefonica to launch a mobile network in the UK. The broadcaster will launch a mobile service for customers in 2016 using Telefonica’s 2G, 3G and 4G networks. The move follows hot on the heels of rivals moving into the mobile business in order to offer customers so-called "quad play" [...]
Best of the Brokers for 28 November 2014 November 27, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SAINSBURY’S Stockbroker Shore Capital has downgraded Sainsbury’s from “hold” to “sell”, after the company announced that it expected like-for-like sales to be negative for several years. It added that the much anticipated price/margin reset by Tesco could impact Sainsbury’s negatively. THOMAS COOK Stockbroker [...]
Supermarket price war fails to save sector as it enters negative sales territory for first time on record November 18, 2014 The supermarket "price war" has failed to help kick-start sales, with the sector falling into negative territory for the first time since records began in 1994. Sales were down 0.2 per cent for the 12 weeks to November 9, according to Kantar Worldpanel. The average basket price of everyday goods such as milk, bread [...]
FTSE closes up for a fifth day in spite of volatility in oil firms – London Report December 22, 2014 THE FTSE 100 yesterday held on to gains as its pre-Christmas rally continued for a fifth consecutive trading session. However, oil-related stocks went from being among the best performers in morning trade to among the worst by the close as the oil price again failed to hold on to an early rise. In low trading [...]
Cork blimey! Christmas champagne outsells semi-skimmed milk at Lidl January 4, 2015 Shoppers at budget supermarket chain Lidl bought more champagne than semi-skimmed milk this Christmas, the retailer has revealed. Figures show that savvy customers snapped up so many bottles of Lidl’s £11.99 Comte De Senneval champagne that it knocked the store’s usual bestseller, semi-skimmed milk, off the top spot for the festive season. The champagne has [...]
Best of the Brokers for 27 October 2014 October 26, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com PEARSON Westhouse Securities reiterated its “sell” recommendation following Pearson’s update for the nine months to September which showed declining sales and revenues. The broker said Pearson is “a quality company that should benefit from long-term growth in global learning spend”. SHIRE S&P Capital [...]