Un gin et tonic s’il vous plait as suits hit Mipim March 11, 2014 A NEW day has dawned and with it, the second day of international property wonder-fest Mipim, as yesterday saw real estate bods from all over the world descend on Cannes and its famous Promenade de la Croisette. While some flew EasyJet and others arrived by helicopter, 100-odd from the likes of Knight Frank and Savills arrived [...]
Foxtons pays out special dividend March 11, 2014 LONDON estate agent Foxtons declared a special dividend yesterday as it reported the first set of results since its September market debut, with London’s booming housing market driving profits up more than 50 per cent. The company, known for its fleet of staff-driven Mini Cooper cars and cafe-style branches, said it will pay a total [...]
Barratt Developments hires Dixons chairman John Allan March 11, 2014 BARRATT Developments said yesterday that it has hired Dixons Retail chairman John Allan to take over as its chair when Bob Lawson steps down in November. The housebuilder said Allan, who is also a non-executive director of Royal Mail, will join the board in August. He will replace Lawson, its chairman of six years, at [...]
Inchcape profit motors ahead March 11, 2014 BOOMING car sales in Chile and Peru have helped lift profits 11 per cent at dealership group Inchcape. The FTSE 250 firm yesterday unveiled annual pre-tax profit of £274.6m on revenues that rose 7.7 per cent to £6.5bn. Like-for-like new car sales in the UK jumped 8.7 per cent.
Earnings fall at Computacenter March 11, 2014 SHARES in data centre group Computacenter dropped three per cent yesterday after it revealed that profits last year fell 22 per cent to £50.5m due to poor performance in France, where it lost £7.3m. Revenues rose 5.4 per cent to £3bn, the highest in the group’s 33-year history.
Hansteen’s property values rising March 11, 2014 Warehouse owner Hansteen said its investment in new properties in the last year has helped to push its rent takings up 59 per cent to £134.9m, while pre-tax profits were up 41 per cent to £65.3m. The firm, chaired by James Hambro, said yesterday the outlook for its European portfolio will keep improving this year.
Cape soars on Motherwell deal March 11, 2014 London-listed energy and resources support services firm Cape yesterday said it has bought Motherwell Bridge for £37.65m, sending its share price up over six per cent. Motherwell Bridge provides storage tanks and heat exchangers to the energy and steel markets. The deal is expected to be earnings enhancing this year.
Iata expects air cargo growth March 11, 2014 Air cargo should see stronger growth this year with demand picking up in most regions, the global airlines body Iata said yesterday. In a review covering the first quarter of 2014, it said positive cyclical developments had brought a pickup in freight demand. However, it gave no specific figures.
City Moves for 12 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 11, 2014 MHA MacIntyre Hudson The accounting firm has announced the appointment of Sarah Jarvie as a manager in its restructuring and recovery team. She has over 15 years’ experience, and was most recently at KPMG. PwC The professional services firm has appointed two data analytics partners to its financial services risk and regulation team. Nick Bouch joins [...]
Best of the Brokers for 12 March 2014 March 11, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com AVIVA RBC Capital has moved its target price on the insurer from 400p to 550p and upgraded the stock from “underperform” to “neutral” following last week’s results, saying that a return to top-line growth in its life business and management drive to improve [...]