Bunzl buys Brazilian firm Lamedid March 17, 2014 FTSE 100-quoted distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl yesterday said it has acquired Lamedid, a Brazilian company that distributes medical consumable products to hospitals and laboratories. Lamedid reported revenues of £12m in 2013. “The purchase of Lamedid has significantly increased the size of our healthcare business in Brazil, having entered the healthcare sector there with the [...]
City Moves for 18 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 17, 2014 Management Consultancies Association Chris Cooper has been elected president of the Management Consultancies Association. He is currently head of Challenge Consulting. Cooper has previously held positions at BDO and OASiS. Nikko Asset Management The asset management firm has announced the appointment of Al Clark as global head of multi-asset. Clark has over 20 years’ experience [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 March 2014 March 17, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MICRO FOCUS Barclays upgraded Micro Focus from “equal weight” to “overweight” yesterday with a raised target price of 900p (from 800p). The broker expects that Micro Focus is soon to return to organic growth of up to five per cent now that its [...]
London Report: Building boost helps FTSE snap its losing streak March 17, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index snapped its longest losing streak in two and a half years yesterday as the building sector surged on a government plan to pump more cash into a scheme to boost construction. Persimmon was among top FTSE gainers, rising 3.7 per cent after chancellor George Osborne said on Sunday he would extend [...]
New York Report: US stocks rise as tensions in Crimea ease March 17, 2014 US STOCKS climbed yesterday, with the S&P 500 bouncing from its worst weekly drop in the past seven, as concerns eased over the situation in Crimea, while economic data indicated the economy was improving after a winter slowdown. The 97 per cent vote in Crimea in favour of quitting Ukraine was condemned as illegal by [...]
Shoppers are getting a sweeter tooth for bags of chocolate March 17, 2014 Scan the confectionery aisles of most British supermarkets and you’ll notice the proliferation of so-called grab bags of chocolate – brands repackaged into what the confectionery industry calls ‘stand up pouches.’ The usual suspects – Mars Mix, Twix Mix, Cadbury’s Bitsa Wispa, Cadbury’s Caramel Nibbles – dominante our supermarket shelves and new research out today [...]
Tesco shares slump on BoAML downgrade March 17, 2014 Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have downgraded Tesco today to “underperform” on the back of rival Morrisons’ announcement last week to invest £1bn in slashing prices, causing the grocer’s share to fall to the bottom of investors’ shopping lists. The bank said the implications of the shock announcement from Morrisons were “substantial” and [...]
Who’s really paying the 40p tax rate? March 17, 2014 The 40p rate of tax (the higher rate) has been in the news a lot ahead of the budget – some business groups are calling either for a cut in the rate or an increase in the threshold for paying it. George Osborne was also criticised yesterday for reports that he said that a positive [...]
City A.M.’s bumper Budget preview March 17, 2014 As chancellor George Osborne gets ready to unveil the penultimate budget before the general election, we've pulled together all the expected announcements, and what others are hoping for. Deficit Due to the scale of the budget deficit Ernst & Young believe the chancellor has little room for manoeuvre in terms of giveaways. While the Office [...]
Just-Eat float will have no retail component March 17, 2014 City AM has learned that the float of fast food website Just-Eat will have no retail component. Retail investors will be able to go through brokers who've put in an institutional bid, but there'll be no direct access to the initial public offering (IPO). This mirrors Poundland's recent IPO, which also lacked a retail component. [...]