Advertising giant WPP buys up a slice of Brazil with Try acquisition September 4, 2014 Advertising agency WPP yesterday announced it had acquired a majority stake in Cairos Usabilidade Eireli, a Brazil-based development agency known as Try. Described by WPP as “a user experience agency that designs and develops custom web, mobile, desktop and touch-enabled applications”, Try employs 22 people and has a number of high profile clients. WPP said [...]
Burford Capital almost doubles earnings after stronger returns September 4, 2014 BURFORD Capital yesterday announced promising half-year financial results after a bond issue and new semi-annual dividend. The litigation finance firm, chaired by former Barclays chief Sir Peter Middleton, said pre-tax profits rose 89 per cent for the six months ending June to $18.2m (£11.1m). “This period has been a transformative one for the business with [...]
City Moves for 05 September 2014 | Who’s switching jobs September 4, 2014 Savills The real estate services firm has announced the appointment of Rupert Phelps to establish a new family office services practice. He joins from BNY Mellon, where he was director of family office services. Phelps has also held senior roles at Euromoney, UBS Global Asset Management and Merrill Lynch. Berwin Leighton Paisner The law firm [...]
Best of the Brokers for 05 September 2014 September 4, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WOLSELEY BS has kept its valuation at “neutral” but raised the target price to 3,500p from 3,320p. The broker believes a special dividend payment is likely this year to be around £200m, and thinks the strength of US operations will offset a slowdown [...]
London Report: Draghi decision helps FTSE rise but BP tanks September 4, 2014 BRITAIN’S top shares rose yesterday after the European Central Bank cut interest rates and announced plans to buy assets in a bid to shore up Eurozone inflation. However, steep falls in BP capped gains. BP shares fell 5.9 per cent to 455p, suffering their biggest one-day percentage drop since June 2010, after a judge in [...]
New York Report: Wall St closes lower after initial gains September 4, 2014 US STOCKS lost early gains yesterday and turned negative to close modestly lower, dropping from earlier highs that saw the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average hit new intraday record highs. Gains were initially fuelled by moves the European Central Bank took to stimulate the struggling Eurozone economy and continued signs of improvements [...]
Trust in people and businesses is at its lowest in 30 years, say researchers September 4, 2014 Public trust in people and businesses has dropped to its lowest point in three decades, according to researchers at the University of Georgia. By examining data from two national surveys of people in the US – the General Social Survey of adults (1972-2012) and the Monitoring the Future survey of 12th graders (1976-2012), they [...]
Apple share price soars after refuting iBrute celebrity photo hack, then plummets in biggest fall since January September 4, 2014 Apple is having a rollercoaster week. It experienced its biggest fall in share price since January yesterday, after hitting a record high the day before. Shares opened nearly one per cent higher hitting $103.74 when markets opened on Tuesday after the company said there was no "ibrute" security breach when celebrity's iCloud accounts were hacked and [...]
Goldman Sachs to issue $500m Islamic bond September 4, 2014 Goldman Sachs is planning to issue its first Islamic bond, or sukuk, and intends to meet potential investors in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week. According to the FT, the issuance is expected to consist of five-year bonds with a combined value of $500m. The US bank will be the second financial institution [...]
The biggest animal to ever walk the Earth: Meet the Dreadnoughtus schrani September 4, 2014 Weighing 59.3 metric tonnes and stretching 26 metres from head to tail, the Dreadnoughtus schrani would have dwarfed the terrifying T. Rex. It may have been a harmless herbivore, but the enormous dinosaur was given its name because the excavation team that found it believed it had naught to dread. "With a body [...]