Contract wins give Compass fuel for growth May 12, 2010 COMPASS, the world’s biggest caterer, yesterday said a succession of new contract wins and an improvement in operating margin were behind a 14 per cent increase in first-half pre-tax profit. The group, which counts Chelsea Football Club, London’s O2 arena, the Bank of England and the US Senate among its clients, said it had delivered [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: WHAT WILL THE FED DO THIS WEEK? April 25, 2010 PAUL DALES | CAPITAL ECONOMICS “It is doubtful that the Fed will get any closer to dropping its pledge to keep rates exceptionally low for ‘an extended period’ at the two-day meeting that concludes this Wednesday. In fact, we continue to think that the Fed will keep rates on hold until at least 2012.” PHILIP [...]
FUND MANAGEMENT NEWS May 18, 2010 UK IS ABSOLUTE DIAMOND FOR GARTMORE Gartmore has been in the news recently for all of the wrong reasons. However, the fund manager has finally got something to celebrate. Its UK Absolute Return Fund, managed by Ben Wallace and Luke Newman, had its 10 year anniversary this week, and to top it off it posted [...]
Timepiece to land trial before going on to bigger things May 6, 2010 THERE is no better trainer of a filly than Henry Cecil. The master of Warren Place showed off his skills in preparing a member of the equine fairer sex for a Classic last week when only the Stewards stopped 66/1 Jacqueline Quest from landing the 1000 Guineas. However, his filly TIMEPIECE can ease the pain [...]
ABB pounces with surprise Chloride offer June 8, 2010 CHLORIDE, the UK power protection group that is being courted by Emerson, yesterday shocked the markets by announcing it has tied up a £860m deal with Switzerland’s ABB. ABB is offering 325p a share, plus the payment of a 3.3p dividend, and its bid easily beats an earlier rejected offer of 275p a share from [...]
BP’S FORMER RIVAL TESTING THE WATERS VIA THE USUAL CHANNELS June 13, 2010 JOHN Hofmeister, the former president of Shell, has been busy over the past few weeks, sticking his oar in to help former rival BP traverse the oil-slicked waters of the post-spill Gulf. Hofmeister has been a staunch proponent of using giant supertankers to suck up the oil for processing – arguing that the same system [...]
After sterling’s rally, investors are playing a waiting game June 22, 2010 FOREX markets gave a cautious welcome to George Osborne’s emergency Budget measures yesterday, with sterling rallying to highs of $1.4851 and €1.2081. However, the pound still failed to make up Monday’s losses against the dollar, reflecting a widespread wait-and-see approach as analysts work through the details of the Budget and watch for its impact on [...]
Lonmin back in profit after heavy losses May 10, 2010 LONMIN swung to a first-half profit after metal prices rebounded and costs fell, the miner said. The platinum producer reported a pre-tax profit of $77m (£51m) for the six months ending in March. The figure beat most analysts’ expectations and compares with a loss of $196m for the same period last year. The South African-based [...]
BANK CHIEF ‘OGRE’ GETS AN IMAGE OVERHAUL July 20, 2010 FAIRFAX chief executive Stefan Allesch-Taylor is on the blower following a story in this column yesterday about the boutique bank scouting around for a new investor – a move which could potentially usurp the big man’s family trust as the firm’s largest shareholder. Not that Allesch-Taylor’s particular beef is with the story itself, mind. He’s [...]
BANK CHIEF ‘OGRE’ GETS AN IMAGE OVERHAUL July 20, 2010 FAIRFAX chief executive Stefan Allesch-Taylor is on the blower following a story in this column yesterday about the boutique bank scouting around for a new investor – a move which could potentially usurp the big man’s family trust as the firm’s largest shareholder. Not that Allesch-Taylor’s particular beef is with the story itself, mind. He’s [...]