Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years, announcing £40bn of tax rises, Central London Alliance comments
What you need to know before the open – 24/10 October 24, 2013 European markets were down for the first day in two weeks yesterday, slowed by the prospect of the ECB's stress test plans for Eurozone banks, due to start next month. But this morning, markets are expected to return to good health after Chinese HSBC manufacturing PMI came in at a seven month high – 50.9. [...]
Sunny outlook for lending as UK businesses borrow £2.5bn more October 23, 2013 BUSINESSES borrowed £2.5bn more from high street banks in September compared to the prior month, figures from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) revealed yesterday. The increase in lending is the biggest monthly rise since 2009 and builds on a growing picture of consumer confidence in the economy, BBA statistics director, David Dooks said. He added [...]
Top banks vow to repay swaps mis-selling victims more quickly October 23, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest four banks have all now committed to a new structure to repay interest rate swap mis-selling customers, they said yesterday. Barclays, Lloyds, RBS and HSBC are now offering customers redress for the mis-selling, either in the form of cash or a new, more appropriate product. This will be paid first, then an evaluation [...]
UK TV box firm Pace pays £191m for Aurora in US October 23, 2013 SET-TOP box maker Pace yesterday saw its share price skyrocket more than ten per cent to value the company at over £1bn, after the company announced it would buy US network firm Aurora Networks for $310m (£191.7m). Pace expects the purchase will significantly boost the company’s earnings in 2014, with cost savings from synergies worth [...]
London Report: Bank falls stop FTSE’s nine-day winning streak October 23, 2013 THE UK’S benchmark equity index fell yesterday to end a nine-session winning streak, as a drop in heavyweight banking shares dragged the stock market down from five-month highs. Nevertheless, several traders felt any pullback would be relatively short-lived and saw the UK stock market rallying into the end of 2013. The benchmark FTSE 100 index [...]
UK banks benefit from housing upturn as corporate lending remains weak October 23, 2013 Citi Research has released a report concluding that there is an increasing upside to UK banks. Analysts cite several positive indicators leading to a positive assessment of the sector. There was a significant increase in mortgage volumes in July and August, with gross mortgage lending for the eight months to August 2013 amounting to £99bn, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 21 October 2013 October 20, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ASOS HSBC has kept its “overweight” rating on the online fashion store and hiked its target from 4,380p to 7,160p ahead of full-year results on Wednesday. The broker moved its target after changing its value measure to enterprise value and sales growth. DEBENHAMS [...]
Fraud squad prepares for first Libor trial October 17, 2013 FORMER UBS and Citigroup trader Tom Hayes will appear in court on Monday to answer charges related to the Libor-rigging scandal. The Serious Fraud Office has asked more than 20 other people set to be named on the indictment against Hayes to apply for injunctions to protect their anonymity if they wish. Tom Hayes is [...]
City Moves for 18 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 17, 2013 EdisonThe investment intelligence firm has announced the hire of Angus McPhail as an equities analyst in its oil and gas team. He specialises in mid-cap exploration companies. McPhail has previously worked as an analyst at Investec, Alliance Trust, ING, and WH Ireland. BNY Mellon Asset ManagementThe investment management company has appointed Heneg Parthenay as chief operating officer [...]
Best of the Brokers for 17 October 2013 October 16, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MICHELIN Macquarie has an “outperform” rating on the tyre maker and a 12-month target of €91. The broker sees a moderate recovery in the EU car market, which combined with a strong bounce in truck tyres should push volumes up 2.7 per cent [...]