Viacom confirms it’s buying Channel 5 for £450m May 1, 2014 MTV owner Viacom has agreed today to buy Channel 5, following an auction of the UK broadcaster which began last year. The £450m price values Channel 5 at around nine times last year’s reported earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation. Viacom will be the first US firm to control a British public service broadcaster. Viacom’s [...]
Fat Face: Great clothes for those “settled” in life May 1, 2014 A regulatory filing from fashion chain Fat Face inlcudes one feature we wouldn't expect. When discussing their customers, the company states that its customers are relatively "settled". The lifestyle brand seems to be pitching itself as somewhere for those who've basically given on being stylish. They say they're "generally not focused on 'high' fashion". Instead [...]
UK manufacturing jumps as demand strengthens May 1, 2014 Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) shows the UK rising to 57.3 in April, a five-month high and substantially up from March's 55.8. The surge in output has provided a further boost to optimistic views on the prospects for UK growth. "This reinforces our belief that the economy is firmly on track to achieve growth [...]
BG Group stresses lower output as it warns on continued hit from Egypt May 1, 2014 Just a few days after losing chief executive Chris Finlayson, BG Group has reported a 10 per cent drop in pre-tax profits in the first quarter, to £1.9bn. Ongoing problems in Egypt will hit its oil and gas production volumes this year and next, the FTSE 100 firm said. Shares fell almost one per cent [...]
Rolls Royce confirms ongoing talks with Siemens May 1, 2014 Rolls Royce has said it expects to take a hit on profit at its marine business of 10 per cent, compared to the previous year. The news comes after the UK-based aerospace company suffered a £30m one off charge to "rectify a product quality issue." Rolls Royce said it remains in talks with Siemens over [...]
What you need to know before the open May 1, 2014 A flat open is expected this morning after a further taper from the Fed yesterday. Investors didn’t seem to focus too much on the weather-induced shock drop in first quarter growth in the US – to just 0.1 per cent, looking instead at the more confident Fed statement, strong ADP employment report and Chicago manufacturing [...]
Lloyds reports 22pc jump in first quarter profits May 1, 2014 Lloyds Banking Group has shown this morning that its profitability continues to improve. In the first quarter, underlying profits rose 22 per cent to £1.8bn, from £1.5bn last year. Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio says a stronger, lower-risk balance sheet is helping the bank to power forward, calling Lloyds "well positioned to support and benefit from [...]
BSkyB sees surge in new TV subscribers May 1, 2014 BSkyB has reported a slowdown in profit before tax to £793m for the nine months to 31 March, compared to £966m for the same period the previous year. The FTSE 100 company saw revenue climb by seven per cent to £5.6bn, with earnings per share suffering a fall of 3.4 per cent 42.2p. New paid-for [...]
Japanese shares climb as Fed continues to taper May 1, 2014 Japanese shares have risen after a solid performance on Wall Street and the Federal Reserve delivered a favourable view of the US economy, despite a major slowdown in the first three months of the year. US GDP growth reached just 0.1 per cent on an annualised basis. Economists had forecast a rise of a little [...]
Any Other Business – 01/05 May 1, 2014 IT’S MAY Day, which only means one thing – protests at Trafalgar Square. City botherers Occupy London have been banging their drums again and this year they’ve decided to target pay-day lender Wonga. The group is planning its usual march from Clerkenwell Green to Trafalgar Square and then on to an undisclosed target. “People will need [...]