McColl’s kicks off retail IPOs with plan for £50m stock market float January 27, 2014 CONVENIENCE store group McColl’s is set to jump the queue of retailers preparing to join the stock market after confirming plans yesterday to float next month. The retailer, which owns 1,276 newsagents and convenience stores, wants to raise £50m in a main market listing that is expected to value the group at around £225m. McColl’s [...]
Cat cure firm Circassia in biggest healthcare float for eight years February 6, 2014 A CURE for cat allergies could soon be hitting the market after its Oxford-based developers yesterday confirmed plans to raise £175m on the London stock market in the biggest healthcare float since 2006. Circassia, which is privately backed by firms like Invesco Perpetual and hedge fund Lansdowne Partners, said it will use the money to [...]
Best of the Brokers for 04 December 2013 December 3, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SMITH & NEPHEW Morgan Stanley has raised its rating from equal-weight to overweight and raised its target to 904p from 757p. The broker thinks new products will offset a decline in market share and that the company will reap the benefits of a cost-cutting [...]
Bottom Line: A global web player that is best of British September 19, 2013 ANYONE who said there was no space in the internet retail revolution for British business may have to start eating their words. On the heels of Ocado’s return to form thanks to a licensing deal with Morrisons comes this startling set of numbers from Asos. They confirm the online fashion retailer’s extraordinary achievement. In little [...]
Japan’s Mizuho in the clear over loans to yakuza October 28, 2013 MIZUHO Financial Group did not intentionally cover up loans to yakuza mobsters, an outside panel said yesterday, a verdict that increases the likelihood Japan’s second-biggest bank by assets will escape serious penalty over the scandal. Mizuho said its president and CEO, Yasuhiro Sato, would keep his job but have his pay suspended for six months. [...]
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 [...]
Bottom Line: Hot competition in retail revolution November 5, 2013 PRIMARK doesn’t sell food, but if it did, it’s unlikely the range would compete with Marks & Spencer. Unfortunately for the 129-year-old high-street stalwart, its younger rival does sell clothes – a lot of them. Yesterday’s contrasting results from the two retailers were a stark reminder of just how much the British high street has [...]
Japan looks to private help with reserves October 13, 2013 THE JAPANESE government is set to look for private sector assistance in managing its enormous foreign currency reserves, according to the country’s finance ministry. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government wants to lift the current ban on private involvement, enlisting the services of financial institutions. The country holds around $1.27 trillion (£795.8bn) in foreign exchange reserves, [...]
Former M&S exec joins hotel group August 28, 2013 Former Marks & Spencer finance head Ian Dyson has added a new non-executive role to his portfolio by joining the board of Intercontinental Hotels. Dyson, who is a non-executive at Punch Taverns and is joining the Asos board in October, spent several years as the financial controller of Hilton Group.
Bumper Christmas boosts ASOS January 17, 2013 ONLINE fashion retailer ASOS yesterday said its retail sales rose 41 per cent to £78.1m in December, helped by a strong showing in its home market over Christmas. UK retail sales were up by a better-than-expected 34 per cent to £35.7m, driven by its decision to the trim prices of its own-branded products. International sales [...]