China’s trade surplus jumps to five-year high of $36bn in May June 9, 2014 CHINA’S trade surplus jumped to nearly $36bn (£21.4bn) in May, the highest in over five years, as exports rose strongly while imports suffered a slump in mixed news for the world’s second largest economy. Chinese exports rose by seven per cent in May compared with a year earlier, with imports down by 1.6 per cent [...]
City Moves for 09 June 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 9, 2014 Allen & Overy The law firm has hired Maria Darby-Walker as global head of communications. For the past nine years, Darby-Walker has acted as an independent communications consultant, and was most recently interim head of internal and external relations at the Financial Conduct Authority. KPMG The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Julie [...]
Best of the Brokers for 09 June 2014 June 9, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com THOMAS COOKBerenberg have launched coverage of Thomas Cook Group with a “buy” rating and a target price of 200p. The broker believes that while there are structural challenges in the tourism industry, management efforts at Thomas Cook are likely to lead to improved [...]
London Report: Economic data puts focus on UK housing market and growth June 9, 2014 ECONOMIC data out this week is set to shine a light on the UK’s steady return to health after the recession. The Office for National Statistics will tomorrow release April’s manufacturing data, which is forecast to show a 0.3 per cent rise in output. Construction output data – also likely to show a rise for [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: S&P 500 close to 2,000 mark June 9, 2014 INVESTORS have spent several months deciphering the mixed signals from the US economy, and yet the S&P 500 has kept moving higher, slowly but surely, putting it just shy of the 2,000 mark. With its Friday close, the S&P would need just a 2.5 per cent gain to vault the 2K level – something most [...]
Aiming for the stars June 8, 2014 Annabel Palmer speaks to Jenny Biggam, media veteran and co-founder of the7stars AS the media landscape becomes ever more complex, media giants like Mindshare or OMD are having to look beyond the traditional recipe for success (small distribution networks, multiple revenue streams) towards greater innovation and efficiency. But Jenny Biggam, co-founder of the7stars (an independent [...]
The week in brief June 8, 2014 UK E&M market to be worth £64bn by 2018 According to PwC’s latest Global entertainment & media (E&M) outlook report, the UK E&M market is expected to grow by 3.1 per cent from 2013 to 2018 – to a value of £64bn in 2018. In 2013, Britain had the second largest E&M market in Europe, [...]
Ladies by a head at sun-soaked Epsom June 7, 2014 THE SUN came out to meet the millenary yesterday as Investec Epsom Ladies Day got underway. There was all sorts of fashion to be seen from tartan to frilly tutus, but the Harvey Nichols fashion scouts and star fashion judge Mariella Tandy managed to pick out six ladies for the best dressed final. “It’s been [...]
AA races ahead with plans for £1.4bn flotation June 6, 2014 BRITAIN’S largest car insurer and roadside recovery firm, the AA, yesterday confirmed its intention to list on the London Stock Exchange in the second half of this month. The company’s current private equity owners want to sell off the stock to a buy-in team, backed by institutional investors, who will then take it public. They’ll [...]
Game valuation set at £340m in return to market June 6, 2014 GAME Digital will sell its shares for £2 apiece, it said yesterday, at the lower end of the projected range and giving the video games retailer a valuation of £340m as it prepares to return to the stock market. The group itself had initially banked on a £400m initial price offering (IPO), and estimates had [...]