FTSE breaks eight day streak on jitters over China and Euro July 6, 2011 THE FTSE 100’s eight-day winning streak came to a halt yesterday as worries over debt contagion in Europe and the demand outlook in China hit banking and commodity stocks. The top share index closed 21.11 points or 0.4 per cent lower at 6,002.92, having risen more than six per cent in the previous eight sessions [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 13, 2011 ITV Nomura rates the media group “buy” with a 115p target price. The broker notes recent press coverage claiming that Simon Cowell might not appear in the X Factor until the final show of the next series, but argues that the show might not suffer severely as a result. It points to the American Idol [...]
Mary Queen of Shops in high street review May 16, 2011 RETAIL guru Mary Portas is launching a rescue campaign to save Britain’s struggling high streets, after being called in by Prime Minister David Cameron. TV’s “Queen of Shops” wants giant supermarket chains like Tesco to hand over some of their profit to help independent shops. The management consultant has been identified as someone with the [...]
POACHERS TURNED GAMEKEEPERS SNARE GOLDMAN WITH BEST BREW July 18, 2011 SHARP-suited, discerning of taste and with a generous disposable income they can easily take elsewhere. Yes, the Goldman crew are a tough crowd – but even the investment bank’s most hard-nosed deal-makers are being won over by the new Italian opposite the Goldman Sachs fortress on Fleet Street, which is gaining a reputation for the [...]
Rugby’s phoenix still on the rise June 9, 2011 ANYONE who had even whispered talk of a return to the Premiership when London Scottish were at rock bottom a decade ago would have been wheeled off by men in white coats, suspected of suffering one high tackle too many. Relegated nine divisions after an ownership disaster dragged them into administration just after the advent [...]
Lloyds branch sale on track amid pay backlash May 18, 2011 Lloyds Bank expects to find a buyer for the 600 branches it has put up for sale by the end of this year, despite concerns that it may have to sell still more in future. The part-nationalised high street bank is pushing ahead with the asset sale dubbed “Project Verde” despite the Independent Commission on [...]
The rock’n’roll banker that is set to chair Aviva June 5, 2011 FORMER Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) chief executive John McFarlane is being touted as the next chairman of insurance group Aviva, after Sir Richard Broadbent passed over the role last month in favour of a move to Tesco. The appointment of McFarlane, who currently sits on the board of RBS, is believed to [...]
Weak banks help drive FTSE to three-month closing low June 15, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares ended lower yesterday, weighed down by banks on worries over the UK government’s drive for tougher regulation and Europe’s debt crisis, while commodity stocks also pressured the index. The FTSE 100 closed down 60.58 points, or 1.0 per cent, at 5,742.55, its lowest finish since March 18. Banks fell ahead of chancellor [...]
M&S set to outline plans for growth alongside profit rise May 22, 2011 HIGH STREET stalwart Marks & Spencer is expected to post a 12 per cent rise in full-year profit tomorrow, as the retailer outlines plans for growth overseas and online. M&S is likely to post a £710m pre-tax profit, according to consensus estimates, which is set to lead to a rise in its dividend to 16.5p, [...]
FTSE 100 CHAIRMEN BACK DRIVE FOR MORE WOMEN ON UK BOARDS July 13, 2011 THE DEBATE about how to get more businesswomen into the boardroom continued last night at the Lansdowne Club, as FTSE 100 chairmen came to hear BAE Systems’ chairman Dick Olver outline his plans for reform. “It is not a matter of quotas; it is a question of better decisions in the boardroom,” said Olver, who [...]