Philip Morris International hikes its dividend after strong quarter September 10, 2014 TOBACCO giant Philip Morris International yesterday announced a 6.4 per cent boost in its dividend and the appointment of three new directors to its board. Philip Morris reported second quarter profits that beat forecasts in July due to strong European sales. The maker of Marlboro cigarettes said the increase to its quarterly dividend would result [...]
City Moves for 11 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 10, 2014 Falcon Group The alternative finance firm has appointed two to its risk management team. Mark Wyatt (pictured) joins as chief risk officer. He was director of risk, information and claims at Euler Hermes. Tim Esden joins as portfolio manager from Coface, where he was head of claims and debt collection. PwC The professional services firm has [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 September 2014 September 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND Investec has upgraded to “hold” from “sell”, and raised the target price to 355p from 340p. Investec expects a no vote in the Scottish referendum to ease recent share underperformance, and continues to expect a gradual recovery across RBS’s [...]
London Report: Flat FTSE pulled back by Scots vote and ARM September 10, 2014 BRITAIN’s top equity index made little progress yesterday as a fall in the shares of chipmaker ARM and uncertainty over Scotland’s independence vote next week pegged back the market. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index, which had fallen in the last three sessions, closed up by 1.11 points – flat in percentage terms – at 6,830.11 [...]
New York Report: Apple reverses trend sending Wall St higher September 10, 2014 A REBOUND in Apple shares yesterday helped push US stocks higher, breaking the market’s two-day string of losses. The ionone and Iand maker’s shares jumped 3.1 per cent to $101, the most actively traded on the Nasdaq, after several brokerages raised their price targets on the company. Its shares had ended down slightly on Tuesday. [...]
Scottish independence: Lloyds and RBS to move HQ to London if Scots vote Yes September 10, 2014 Lloyds Banking Group will move its official headquarters out of Scotland if the country votes for independence in next week’s referendum. The banking group which owns Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland largely operate from its London headquarters, however the bank’s registered offices are in Edinburgh. Lloyds confirmed that its contingency plans in the [...]
Train journeys into Blackfriars, Paddington and Fenchurch street suffer most overcrowding September 10, 2014 120,000 passengers on London trains are forced to spend the rush hour commute to work standing- a fifth of the 545,000 passengers coming through the capital every morning. New figures reveal 60 per cent of peak train services had passengers standing and 24 per cent were over capacity. Routes into Blackfriars, Paddington and Fenchurch street suffered [...]
Ryanair says better customer service has increased passenger numbers September 10, 2014 Ryanair has said improvements to customer service- which was largely non-existent before boss Michael O’Leary’s change of heart about his no-frills approach- has increased the number of passengers per flight by at least six compared to last year. The budget airlines chief finance man Howard Millar said better customer service and the way it sold [...]
Scottish Independence: Latest poll gives No vote six point lead as Cameron urges Scotland not to break his heart September 10, 2014 The latest polling might make political leaders breath a sigh of relief in the lead up to next week’s Scottish independence referendum. After rushing to Scotland to rally support for a No vote after the shock swing towards Yes over the weekend, Survation’s latest poll for Scottish newspaper the Daily Record puts the No vote in [...]
Germanene: Have scientists just created the new graphene? September 10, 2014 Scientists at the Aix-Marseille University in France have created the “cousin” of super-conductor graphene. Made up of a single layer of germanium atoms, germanene could be a potential alternative to graphene because it exhibits the same impressive electrical and optical properties. The researchers believe it could play a significant role in the future of [...]