US clears Astrazeneca over trial data for new heart drug Brilinta August 19, 2014 British drug giant Astrazeneca has been cleared by the US government over concerns about the trial process for its new heart drug Brilinta. The American department of justice was investigating the clinical trial conducted by Astrazeneca over concerns that too many patients were sourced from eastern Europe for the study. Perceived discrepancies in data reported [...]
Elizabeth Arden blames celebrities for loss August 19, 2014 Elizabeth Arden reported its biggest ever quarterly loss due to a steeper-than-expected fall in sales of celebrity perfumes, particularly the Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift brands, sending its shares plunging as much as 25 per cent yesterday. The cosmetics company said fourth- quarter sales fell 28.4 per cent, the sharpest in a decade, and warned [...]
Imperial Tobacco share price rises as European trade improves August 19, 2014 FTSE 100-listed tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco saw its shares jump 2.34 per cent yesterday after its interim management statement said it expected modest profit growth this year due to improving European trading. The Bristol-based maker of Rizla and Gauloises also said it was on track to complete the acquisition of a number of US cigarette [...]
Scottish independence snubbed by John Menzies as aviation and distribution giant backs No vote August 19, 2014 Edinburgh-based airport services and logistics firm John Menzies says it hopes that Scotland does not split from the United Kingdom as Scottish companies will have more opportunities if Britain is not split up. “We don’t actually think Scotland should be independent,” said John Menzies finance chief Paula Bell. “We’ll be so glad to get back [...]
Cairn is looking to cut jobs after icy Arctic wind August 19, 2014 OIL AND gas explorer Cairn Energy yesterday announced first-half, post-tax losses of $62m (£37m), compared to a loss of $219m in the same period a year ago. The Edinburgh-based company said it would now need to re-assess staffing levels and cut costs. Cairn is still trying to resolve a tax issue in India and said [...]
John Wood looks to US shale industry boom to help growth August 19, 2014 BRITISH energy services firm John Wood Group said yesterday that it was banking on the US shale industry to drive growth, after its production services business helped offset weakness in other divisions in the first half of the year. First half earnings were virtually flat at $243.9m (£147m), but the company said it expected a [...]
City Moves for 20 August 2014 | Who’s switching jobs August 19, 2014 BDO The accountancy and business advisory firm has announced two appointments to its forensic accounting team. Gavin Williamson joins as a partner from Deloitte, where he specialised in complex, multi-jurisdictional fraud and corruption investigations. Cathie Cameron (pictured) joins as a director. She previously ran her own consulting business in the US, and has also held [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 August 2014 August 19, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com WPP Westhouse Securities has maintained a “buy” rating on WPP ahead of its interim results on 26 August, with a target price of 1,577p. The broker expects WPP to stay on track with its full year target of three per cent revenue growth [...]
London Report: FTSE climbs after Persimmon delivers a set of good results August 19, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index yesterday climbed to its highest closing level in three weeks, bolstered by housebuilding stocks after robust results from Persimmon. The UK blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended up 38.06 points, or 0.6 per cent, at 6,779.31 points. Persimmon delivered a 57 per cent rise in pretax profit and said it was trading [...]
New York Report: Housing data lifts Wall St August 19, 2014 WALL Street yesterday was lifted by the US housing sector and strong earnings from Home Depot overshadowed lingering concerns about the conflict in Ukraine.. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 80.85 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 16,919.59, the S&P 500 gained 9.86 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 1,981.6 and the Nasdaq Composite added [...]