Best of the Brokers December 3, 2012 ASHTEAD Bank of America begins coverage of the industrial equipment hire firm with a “buy” rating and target price of 460p. Ashtead “will continue to grow revenue rapidly,” the analysis advises. CENTRICA Citi has upgraded the owner of British Gas to “buy” with a target price of 360p. “This current valuation does not reflect the [...]
City Moves for 14 January 2013 | Who’s switching jobs January 13, 2013 Legal & General Alex Gipson has been appointed as a loans originator and underwriter in Legal & General’s commercial lending team. He joins from RBS, where he worked for 27 years. Gipson was most recently director of housing finance within RBS’s structured finance team. He is a social housing expert, and has worked on numerous [...]
Time running short for deal to extend West Coast rail contract December 2, 2012 VIRGIN Trains and the Department for Transport are set to finally sign a deal to give the rail operator a temporary extension to its West Coast Main Line franchise this week. The franchise contract is due to run out on Sunday, and both sides have agreed in principle that Virgin can run the route for [...]
British Gas to hit customers with price hike October 11, 2012 BRITISH Gas is preparing to hike its gas and electricity prices by around eight per cent as early as today, leaving its variable tariff customers with an average of £100 extra on their bills. The group, which has around 12m residential customers in the UK, last increased its bills in August 2011, blaming rising costs. [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs December 16, 2012 Ashcourt Rowan Emily Morris has been appointed group head of marketing at the wealth management company. She has held a number of senior marketing roles in similar firms, and was marketing director at Rathbone Brothers for six years. Morris has additionally worked for Barclays Wealth. Peverel Group The property services group has appointed Nigel Howell [...]
Virgin gets rail deal as inquiry finds big flaws December 6, 2012 A STINGING report yesterday blamed disorganisation and overstretched staff at the Department for Transport (DfT) for the failure of the West Coast Main Line franchise contest. The DfT confirmed yesterday that Virgin Trains, which had lost out in its bid for the 13-year West Coast franchise, has agreed to run the route for up to [...]
FTSE 100 flat on US budget uncertainty December 4, 2012 The FTSE 100 was broadly flat in early trading as uncertainty continued over the fate of US budget talks to avert January’s so-called “fiscal cliff”. The White House has dismissed a budget deal proposal from congressional Republicans that included tax reforms and spending cuts, saying it did not meet President Barack Obama’s pledge to raise [...]
Who’s switching jobs November 28, 2012 Aviva Phil Pavitt has been appointed to the role of IT transformation director at the insurance group. He joins from HMRC, where he was general director of change. Pavitt has also held chief information officer positions at Centrica, Virgin Media and BT. MasterCard Will Judge has been appointed vice president for travel and transit. He [...]
West Coast Rail bidding process deemed flawed October 29, 2012 LACK of transparency, inadequate information and inconsistent treatment of potential bidders by the Department for Transport (DfT) all contributed to a “flawed process” to determine which firm would run the West Coast main line franchise, an interim inquiry into the fiasco has concluded. The debacle, which earlier this month resulted in the decision to award [...]
Inflation on the way up again as energy bills and tuition fees strike November 11, 2012 INFLATION will be back in the spotlight tomorrow when official figures are released, followed by the Bank of England’s quarterly Inflation Report on Wednesday. While the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 2.2 per cent in September, it is expected to increase again due to rising tuition and energy bills. “We expect the CPI to [...]