3i in plea for patience amid investor anger April 1, 2012 DIRECTORS at 3i are set to plead for patience with key investors amid calls for change at the under-pressure private equity house. A group of shareholders, the total size of which is unknown, has demanded the firm sell off assets after a long period in which shares have traded below the underlying value of investments. [...]
Budget week will see Italy, inflation and retail in focus March 18, 2012 TODAY I anticipate a quiet start to the week, with a lack of economic announcements from the UK and the US. All eyes are likely to focus on the Eurozone as we get further indication of the health of one of its largest economies. Italy reports industrial order and sales numbers at 9am for January. [...]
Stamp duty hike to hit £2m houses March 21, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT has clamped down on Britain’s wealthiest property owners by raising stamp duty paid on homes costing more than £2m to seven per cent. The changes to the stamp duty bill mean anyone who wants to buy a house above the £2m threshold will now have to pay at least £140,000 in tax on [...]
Morrisons profit up – but predicts tough 2012 March 8, 2012 Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer Wm Morrison said the UK grocery market was likely to remain subdued in the coming year despite easing inflationary pressures as it posted a eight per cent rise in year profit. “We expect a challenging year in 2012,” the firm said on Thursday, adding that it still expected to deliver profitable growth. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 25, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES ROYAL MAIL LOOKS TO DELIVER IPO NEXT YEAR The coalition government aims to begin the privatisation of Royal Mail by selling or floating at least part of it in autumn 2013 if the state-owned postal operator’s finances continue to improve. The sell-off would be Britain’s most ambitious privatisation since John Major broke up [...]
FX MARKETS FOLLOWING THE BOND MARKETS RATHER THAN EQUITIES March 19, 2012 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT OVER the past several weeks, the FX market has undergone a monumental change. Bonds not stocks have become the primary driver of trade for currencies and that one dynamic has been able to explain most of the movement in the dollar both up and down. Instead of the old mantra [...]
LME considers bids for bourse February 23, 2012 THE board of the London Metal Exchange (LME) yesterday considered bids for the world’s biggest industrial metals marketplace. But a partial climb-down on a controversial new trading fee it had planned to charge users could make it less attractive to suitors and threaten a potential sale. Around 80 per cent of the world’s metal futures are [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD May 13, 2012 MORE volatility could be in store for US stocks this week as investors grapple with less certainty about the US economic outlook and a new blow to the financial sector after JP Morgan Chase’s trading loss. Europe is expected to keep investors jumpy as well, with inconclusive results from the recent Greek election and the [...]
FTSE 100 dragged lower as fears of fresh slump weigh on bank shares March 29, 2012 HEIGHTENED worries over global economic growth, after more disappointing data from America and the UK, dragged Britain’s leading shares lower yesterday, with energy and banking stocks taking the biggest hit. The FTSE 100 index closed down 66.96 points or 1.2 per cent at 5,742.03, extending its falls into a third straight session and reaching a [...]
John Lewis sales up despite snow February 17, 2012 Britain’s biggest department store chain John Lewis said sales rose last week as heavy snow prompted its shoppers to switch to the firm’s internet offer. The employee-owned retailer said on Friday its sales rose 4.1 percent to 52.3 million pounds in the week to February 11. “The start of the week saw the cold wind [...]