CFD Profile | UK consumer price index February 1, 2010 Spread: Five basis points on the nearest contract month, 10 basis points for other contracts. Min/ Max size of trade: £1/£25 (maximum account position is £25) Margin Requirement: 5 per cent Trading Hours: 08:00-16:30 London time (Information provided by GFT) After rising to 2.9 per cent in December, the spike higher in UK inflation looks [...]
Centrica sees profits slump in downturn July 30, 2009 CENTRICA said yesterday its first-half profits had dropped 5.6 per cent but that a good performance at British Gas had offset weak commodity prices. Operating profits at British Gas jumped 56 per cent to £476m on the back of low commodity prices and a cold snap in January and February. Centrica said its British Gas [...]
Britain’s last chocolatier sets down a gauntlet for his Kraft successor February 10, 2010 WARTIME is over for Roger Carr. Having held up his head defiantly throughout a five-month hostile bid battle from US food giant Kraft, the former Cadbury chairman is looking considerably more relaxed in demeanour nowadays, though his bruised rhetoric speaks volumes. Carr, in a speech on “Hostile Bids and Takeovers” at the Saïd Business School [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 10, 2010 Collins Stewart Christian Redman has joined the investment banking group’s wealth management division, Collins Stewart Wealth Management, as an associate director. Redman joins from Barclays Wealth, where he was responsible for managing over £450m on behalf of private clients across multiple asset classes. He has worked at Gerrard (now part of Barclays Wealth) since 1986, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 17, 2009 CARLSBERG Evolution Securities yesterday said it did not anticipate any significant change in its numbers after Carlsberg upped its guidance for 2009 earnings from “at least DKK9bn” to “at least DKK9.3bn”. It said the brewer’s increase in beer shipments for the fourth quarter were effectively being borrowed from the first quarter of 2010. MCBRIDE Numis [...]
THE TIPSTER TIME TO GO DEFENSIVE IN YOUR PORTFOLIO February 21, 2010 VOLATILITY has been rising since the start of this year and all of these extreme moves can make investors dizzy. Now is a good time to switch to a more defensive stance on equities and invest in the likes of supermarkets and energy providers. These companies tend to perform strongly when risk aversion returns to [...]
Investors rebuff Venture offer from Centrica July 13, 2009 CENTRICA, the owner of British Gas, faced a setback in its battle to take over Venture Production yesterday, when the North Sea gas producer’s two largest investors backed management’s rejection of the $2bn (£1.2bn) bid. US investment firm ArcLight Capital Partners and one of Venture’s founders, Larry Kinch, which between them control 12.8 per cent [...]
London’s top shares tumble as oil and mining companies slip February 25, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading shares fell 1.2 per cent yesterday, sliding back in the afternoon in tandem with New York stocks, with miners and oils the main drag as commodity prices fell back pressured by a firmer US dollar. By the close, the FTSE 100 index was 64.69 points lower at 5,278.23, reversing again after Wednesday’s 0.5 [...]
Centrica sets out to woo Venture’s shareholders July 12, 2009 CENTRICA, the company which controls British Gas, will this week seek to win over investors for its hostile £1.3bn takeover of the North Sea gas company Venture Production. The gas group’s board of directors slammed Centrica’s bid late last week, saying it “substantially undervalued” the business. The offer of 845p a share, which values the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 20, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BERLIN PUSHES WEBER FOR TOP JOB AT THE ECB Berlin has stepped up its campaign for Axel Weber, Bundesbank chief, to be elected president of the European Central Bank amid intense negotiations over the appointment of the number two position at the Frankfurt-based institution. German officials told the Financial Times that eurozone nations [...]