US home sales and Atlantic factory data disappoint August 23, 2011 Disappointing new economic data from the US has raised further fears over its ability to recover from recession. Manufacturing output in the central Atlantic region of the US fell again in August as orders and shipment growth slowed, figures from the regional Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond showed. The Richmond Fed’s composite index of factory [...]
Duke Street takes stake in legal market February 6, 2012 PRIVATE EQUITY firm Duke Street has become the first investment house to take a stake in the UK’s legal sector, buying a majority stake in Parabis Group – the parent company of two insurance litigation firms. Duke Street’s investment, which means it owns just over 50 per cent of Parabis, values the company at £150m-£200m. [...]
TPG triumphs in £500m fight for GlobeOp February 1, 2012 SHARES in hedge fund administrator GlobeOp leapt by more than a fifth yesterday after it agreed its £508m sale to US private equity house TPG Capital. The stock closed up 21.27 per cent at 430.5p after TPG set out to build a presence in the market serving the $2 trillion (£1.26 trillion) hedge fund sector. [...]
Mining gains offset retail weakness March 29, 2012 The FTSE was broadly flat in early trading with a bounce back in the mining sector helping to offset weaknesses among blue chip retailers like Marks & Spencer. Official figures which yesterday saw the UK’s GDP figures revised down have hit investor sentiment while energy stocks are coming under pressure from volatile oil prices. But [...]
How to avoid an Olympian hassle February 16, 2012 Q. How much can I expect to earn from letting out my property for the Olympics? A. The exact figure would need to be determined on evaluating the property and assessing both the local area and transport links to Olympic venues, however, due to the inflation of hotel prices (most charging up to three times [...]
Sainsbury’s sales top forecasts January 11, 2012 Grocer J Sainsbury beat Christmas sales forecasts as store extensions and its expansion into convenience outlets, online shopping and non-food ranges helped it weather a tough market. Britain’s third-biggest supermarket group behind Wal-Mart’s Asda and industry leader Tesco said on Wednesday sales at stores open over a year rose 2.1 per cent excluding fuel in [...]
Global vision helps Foster to build profit February 2, 2012 THE DESIGN house run by Lord Foster has increased sales and profits for a year in which it completed a series of major projects in London, Spain and America. Foster + Partners, which is responsible for some of the best-known buildings in the City, took turnover up 18.8 per cent to £159.27m while operating profit [...]
Bidders circle Deutsche assets January 11, 2012 Private equity house Advent International has emerged as a bidder for parts of the asset management arm of Deutsche Bank. Blackrock is also believed to be among the firms which lodged “indicative” bids last week. All groups declined to comment. A sale is expected to raise between €1bn (£829m) and €3bn. Up to 50 banks, [...]
Samsung sides with Intel OS January 16, 2012 SAMSUNG is merging its Bada operating system with Tizen, an Intel-backed mobile operating system, in a bid to increase its stake of the smartphone market. The move could be seen as a response to Google’s $12.5bn (£8.2bn) acquisition of Motorola Mobility last year which has hinted that software giants could eventually hold in-house hardware departments. [...]
Don’t be unnerved by this retailer’s blip January 8, 2012 IN A WORLD of fierce supermarket price wars, and in the words of a well-known supermarket chain, every little helps. And every percentage point change in sales growth or underperformance can send alarm bells through the industry. Tesco’s own house broker signalling a two per cent decline in UK sales has surely raised some fears [...]