BSkyB faces “significant risks” over Premier League auction April 3, 2014 HSBC has reiterated its bearish position on BSkyB with an "underweight" rating. The bank expects concerns over the Premier League rights auction will resurface resulting in significant risks to BSkyB. Despite a rise of 8.2 per cent in BSkyB's share price since the beginning of 2014 HSBC believe that once the bidding begins for the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 03 April 2014 April 2, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com TESCO HSBC cut its price target for the supermarket from 300p to 260p due to the structural changes in the sector and the need for Tesco for take decisive action such as investing its margin before it’s eroded. The broker cut its earnings [...]
City Moves for 01 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 31, 2014 Hammerson The retail property company has announced the appointment of Sophie Ross as head of multichannel. She joins from Home Retail Group, where she held multichannel and marketing roles. HSBC Global Asset Management The asset management business has made two senior appointments to its equity product team. Nacho Font joins from DIAM International, where he was a [...]
Chinese on brink of House of Fraser bid March 31, 2014 HOUSE of Fraser is on the verge of a takeover by a Chinese conglomerate, in a landmark deal valuing the retailer at £450m. Chinese powerhouse Sanpower Group, led by 49-year-old multi-millionaire Yuan Yafei, has tabled an all-cash offer to buy out the 165-year-old British department store’s diverse patchwork of shareholders and its £160m of debts. [...]
Racing City heads make waves over at the Royal Victoria Dock March 31, 2014 THE FOUNDER of foreign exchange consultancy IFX, Nick Williams, has just enjoyed a triumphant weekend down by Canary Wharf – although his success had little to do with currency fluctuations. Williams and his navigator, RSA risk consultant Martin Robinson, raced his IFX P1 powerboat to victory in the Royal Victoria Dock during a two-day event [...]
England Sevens beaten to title in Hong Kong final March 30, 2014 ENGLAND coach Simon Amor saluted his emerging squad after they were beaten to the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sevens title by HSBC World Series champions New Zealand yesterday. Amor’s men went one better than last week’s third place in Tokyo, finishing runners-up in the Sevens calendar’s most celebrated event after losing the final 26-7. It [...]
Babcock slides on rights issue to buy Avincis March 28, 2014 BABCOCK International’s share price plummeted yesterday, after the engineering firm announced a £1.1bn rights issue to fund the acquisition of heavily indebted helicopter services company Avincis. The FTSE 100 company said it is buying Avincis for £920m from private equity firms Investindustrial and KKR, but will also assume Avincis’ debt of £705m. The deal will [...]
Best of the Brokers for 28 March 2014 March 28, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com DOMINO’S PIZZA Numis is upbeat about the food chain ahead of an interim management statement for the first quarter due on Wednesday next week. “We expect it to be strong,” Numis says, keeping its “buy” rating and 710p target price, and adding that [...]
London Report: Financial and mining stocks weigh on FTSE March 28, 2014 BRITAIN’S top stock index fell yesterday, with miners leading the retreat on lingering concerns their earnings could be hurt by weaker metals prices following an economic slowdown in China and improving supplies. Banks also lost ground after the Federal Reserve blocked the US units of Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC from paying higher dividends [...]
Retail sales growth beats expectations in February March 27, 2014 Latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics show some strong numbers for retail this February. Up 1.7 after growth of -2.0 per cent last month, that's much higher than economists had expected. Consensus estimates suggested we'd see growth of just 0.5 per cent this month. HSBC say that while recent lower growth might look [...]