Italian luxury group Moncler eyes £2bn float November 27, 2013 MONCLER, an Italian maker of luxury fur lined puffer jackets, yesterday announced plans to float on the Milan stock exchange, hoping to replicate the success of Brunello Cucinelli, the luxury retail group that went public in early 2012. Shares in Brunello Cucinelli are up more than 200 per cent since the group’s flotation. Moncler considered [...]
Inside Track: Crystal Methodist could jeopardise Co-op Bank’s rescue November 20, 2013 SAYING it with Flowers has just assumed an entirely new meaning. The debacle at the Co-op – fuelled by revelations about former bank chairman Paul Flowers’ extra-curricular behaviour – raises profound questions for regulators, government and bank boards alike. Lord Myners, the former Labour city minister, was right to raise the possibility that this week’s [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 November 2013 November 20, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com EASYJET HSBC has raised its rating from “underweight” to “neutral” and lifted its target from 1,225p to 1,375p, admitting that it had worried too much about the airline’s results. While the broker thinks competition is growing in low-cost travel, it adds that EasyJet [...]
London Report: FTSE pares back losses after ECB weighs rate cut November 20, 2013 THE UK’s FTSE 100 was dragged down yesterday by heavyweight stocks such as Vodafone trading ex-dividend, but briefly pared its losses after a report that the European Central Bank was considering negative deposit rates. Bloomberg reported that the ECB was considering a cut in its deposit rate to minus 0.1 per cent from the current [...]
Business bosses call for end to dithering on new runway plan November 19, 2013 DISGRUNTLED bosses have urged politicians to end their prolonged “dithering” on expanding Britain’s airports or face losing business to countries willing to allow more runways. More than a hundred corporate heads and business groups have signed the campaign to “Let Britain Fly”, which is backed by London First, the British Chambers of Commerce and the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 November 2013 November 19, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com QUINTAIN Barclays keeps its overweight rating on the London property developer but has trimmed its target price by 2p to 130p following the sale of its Greenwich project. The broker thinks the growing demand for homes in the city will play in Quintain’s [...]
China’s bold reform plan won’t halt growth slide November 18, 2013 Reform of state-owned enterprises may boost productivity but politicised decisions will continue Euphoria over the reform agenda released by China’s Communist Party on Friday helped push global shares to a six-year high yesterday. Chinese stocks listed offshore rose by 6 per cent, their best trading day in two years, while domestic shares increased by 2.9 [...]
Sants leaves Barclays after just 10 months November 13, 2013 FORMER top regulator Sir Hector Sants yesterday resigned from Barclays, a month after going on sick leave. The ex-Financial Services Authority (FSA) boss joined Barclays 10 months ago as head of compliance and government and regulatory relations. But he went on leave last month suffering from stress and exhaustion, and has since decided to leave [...]
Best of the Brokers for 14 November 2013 November 13, 2013 BSKYB Westhouse has given the TV group a good reception, raising its rating from “neutral” to “buy” and sticking to its 985p target. Despite the loss of Champion’s League rights, BSkyB still has strong content and attractive growth, the broker reckons. FULLER, SMITH & TURNER Numis tells investors to “add” shares in the pub chain and [...]
Bigger capital buffer for HSBC November 12, 2013 HSBC and JP Morgan were yesterday told to hold bigger capital buffers to reflect their importance to the banking system. They topped the list of systemically important lenders put together by the Basel Committee, an international authority which monitors risks. The pair must hold an extra 2.5 per cent of loss absorbing capital. In the [...]