Fifty Shades of Lloyd’s – Former insurance broker’s debut novel November 21, 2012 AN interesting piece of literature arrived on The Capitalist’s desk yesterday morning. A self-published novel from former Lloyd’s broker Victoria Neville. Thursday Nights, Monday Mornings promises tales from the “shambolic playground of the London insurance market”. Delving into the pages to see protagonists with names such as Sarah “Shagger” Smith it appears to be an [...]
No automatic happy ending for publishers that merge October 29, 2012 IT IS hard not to wince at the self-delusion of yesterday’s press release from Pearson and Bertelsmann. Describing the firms’ agreement to merge Penguin and Random House, Pearson’s outgoing chief executive Marjorie Scardino says: “Together the two publishers will be able to… be more adventurous in trying new models in this exciting, fast-moving world of [...]
Asos boss denies bid talks as the retailer posts soaring profit October 25, 2012 ASOS boss Nick Robertson yesterday dismissed talks of a bid by Amazon after the online fashion firm posted soaring sales abroad. He poured cold water on speculation that he had met with Amazon boss Jeff Bezos saying “I have not spoken to Amazon in three years.” The retailer, which has changed its year-end from March [...]
Cameron pledges tax crackdown while UK is host of G8 January 1, 2013 DAVID Cameron today said he will put tax evasion at the heart of this year’s G8 summit and demand the world’s largest economies “galvanise collective international action” to tackle abuse of the taxation system. In a letter sent to leaders of the G8 group of wealthy countries, the Prime Minister said he would use Britain’s [...]
LOW PROFITS MAKE AMAZON A GAMBLE WORTH AVOIDING April 30, 2012 INVESTORS often make the mistake of confusing a great product with a great investment idea. The latest stock to benefit from such a misperception is Amazon. The company’s shares skyrocketed by more than 15 per cent, after its earnings release last Thursday, despite the fact that it barely makes any money. Don’t get me wrong. [...]
Mothercare knocked by poor performance in home market January 17, 2013 MOTHERCARE, the baby and maternity products retailer, suffered a decline in sales in its third quarter, as recent improvements to its UK arm failed to pull in the Christmas sales. The group, which has over 1,300 stores worldwide including 269 in the UK, said UK like-for-like sales fell 5.9 per cent in 13 weeks to [...]
What the other papers say this morning November 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES State Street in pension fee probe UK regulators are investigating allegations that State Street overcharged Ireland’s state pension fund and several big UK corporate pension funds, including those of the Royal Mail and J Sainsbury, billing them for fees not included in their contracts, according to people familiar with the matter. Ireland’s national [...]
Amazon shares soar after £8bn quarterly sales April 26, 2012 INTERNET giant Amazon last night announced quarterly earnings that exceeded even the most optimistic expectations, sending its stock up 15 per cent in after-hours trading. Shares in the company leapt to $225 (£138) each – a valuation of more than 70 times earnings – even though net income fell from $201m to $130m on a like-for-like basis. But [...]
Amazon shares soar after £8bn quarterly sales April 26, 2012 INTERNET giant Amazon last night announced quarterly earnings that exceeded even the most optimistic expectations, sending its stock up 15 per cent in after-hours trading. Shares in the company leapt to $225 (£138) each – a valuation of more than 70 times earnings – even though net income fell from $201m to $130m on a like-for-like basis. But [...]
Rapid responses November 15, 2012 Stale bank lending [Re: The real reason businesses aren’t borrowing from their banks, yesterday] Anthony Browne’s argument about small business lending is stale. In his early days in post, we hoped that the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), would have shifted the debate onto more fertile ground. The enormous rise in lending [...]