Foster + Partners building up its order book after a tough year March 31, 2014 ARCHITECTURE group Foster + Partners has said business is picking up after a tough year in which earnings fell by almost a fifth. Norman Foster’s practice is hiring staff worldwide as it anticipates “record levels of new work” in the coming year, with an order book now totalling £270m. Foster + Partners is currently working [...]
Osborne: We’re committed to full employment March 31, 2014 CHANCELLOR George Osborne yesterday committed to “fight for full employment”, arguing that tax cuts would boost the labour market. Describing “full employment” as the highest employment rate in the G7, the chancellor emphasised welfare and education reforms, as well as lower taxes on businesses as ways to achieve the goal. However, Osborne attacked plans “past [...]
Blinkx hits back at professor’s damning blog March 31, 2014 Chief exec Brian Mukherjee tells Oliver Smith that accusations about the tech company’s past are unfounded BLINKX, the online video advertising firm that saw its share price plummet in January on the back of a critical blog post, was attacked by an “infamous professor” using the “bully pulpit” of Harvard University for personal gain, its [...]
Analyst Views: What do you make of Blinkx’s blog response? March 31, 2014 PAUL RICHARDS | NUMIS Blinkx has confirmed and verified that the blog contains materially misleading data… We view [Blinkx’s trading update] as conservative and believe growth will re-accelerate as clients are reassured and believe this will be matched by a rebound in the group’s shares over time. DAVID REYNOLDS | JEFFERIES [Blinkx’s blog rebuttal] extends [...]
Heathrow and Boris clash over airport’s future March 31, 2014 HEATHROW has been drawn into a political dogfight over its role as a magnet for business, with the Mayor of London claiming a new town and technology hub on the site of the airport could lift the city’s economy. Meanwhile, Heathrow has argued that firms based nearby would downsize rather than adapt to a new [...]
IMF: Banks still rely on $600bn of state support March 31, 2014 THE WORLD’S giant banks are still too big to fail and are being propped up by governments to the tune of $600bn (£360bn), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. That support come in the form of an implicit guarantee – markets expect governments to bail them out if they go bust, keeping their borrowing costs [...]
Travelex buys Turkish outfit March 31, 2014 FOREIGN exchange firm Travelex yesterday moved into Turkey with the acquisition of Turkish company Arti Doviz. It is the first time a foreign money exchange operator has entered the Turkish market. The deal will give Travelex, which is exploring plans for a listing on the London Stock Exchange, five stores at Ataturk International Airport in [...]
Burford starts to reap rewards as earnings rise higher again March 31, 2014 BURFORD Capital, the litigation finance firm chaired by former Barclays chair Sir Peter Middleton, yesterday said surging investment returns helped deliver better profits last year. The group, which primarily provides financial funding for litigation, said pre-tax profits rose 25 per cent for the year ending December 2013 to $42.5m. “We’ve hit a point in our [...]
Bottom Line: Royal Mail proves markets trump politics March 31, 2014 ON ITS first day as a listed company in February, shares in AO.com rose by 33 per cent. Three weeks later, Poundland followed suit; jumping 23 per cent on its debut and making millionaires of several of its senior managers. Other players in London’s recent initial public offering (IPO) boom haven’t fared so well; Just [...]
Shock February drop in lending for mortgages March 31, 2014 MORTGAGE lending dipped during February, according to surprising official figures from the Bank of Lending, marking the first monthly drop in a year. There were 70,309 mortgages approved by financial institutions in February, down by more than 6,000 from January’s figure, which was the highest in six years, going back to the onset of the [...]