Developers secure £44m to start Shepherd’s Bush Market revamp March 3, 2014 DEVELOPERS regenerating Shepherd’s Bush market in west London have secured £44.1m from Pramerica Real Estate Investors to help kick-start the first phase of the development. Orion Shepherds Bush, a joint venture set up by Development Securities and Orion Land & Leisure, said the funds will be used to buy the market site land from Transport [...]
Car dealership Vertu makes a virtue of its acquisition drive March 3, 2014 CAR DEALERSHIP Vertu has raced ahead of earnings forecasts in the year to the end of February and expects new car sales to accelerate further this year. The firm, which has expanded from 95 to 106 showrooms across the UK in the last year, said like-for-like new car sales rose 21.5 per cent in the [...]
London traffic jams get worse March 3, 2014 LONDON is the second-worst city in Europe for traffic jams, with the average motorist spending 82 hours stuck on congested roads last year, according to research out today. The city’s drivers spent 10 more hours than the previous year waiting for traffic to clear, data firm Inrix said. Brussels was named the worst European city, [...]
Gemfields doubles its revenues March 3, 2014 Gemfields, the Aim-listed precious stones miner that has actress Mila Kunis as its ambassador, yesterday said revenue had more than doubled to $65.7m (£39.3m) for the six months ended 31 December 2013, as demand for emeralds continues to grow. But half-year earnings fell from $19.5m to $18m, due to costs related to its luxury jewellery [...]
Africa Oilfield hires new chief March 3, 2014 Aim-quoted Africa Oilfield Logistics, the Africa-focused support services and logistics company co-founded by ex-England cricketer Phil Edmonds and businessman Andrew Groves, yesterday said it has hired Carl Esprey as its new chief executive, replacing Groves who held the position on an interim basis. Esprey previously worked at Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton and asset manager [...]
UK mutuals investor to join ISDX March 3, 2014 Capital for Colleagues, the investment vehicle that focuses on the employee-owned-business sector, yesterday said that it has applied to join the London-based ISDX growth market and has conditionally raised £2.19m in a placing. It expects to join on 17 March. “We chose to list on the ISDX growth market because we believe it will allow [...]
City Moves for 04 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 3, 2014 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer The law firm has named London-based corporate partner Martin Nelson-Jones as co-head of its infrastructure and transport sector group. He joined in 1991 and became a partner in 2001. BNY Mellon The investment management firm has announced the appointment of Frank La Salla as chief executive of its alternative investment services business. He [...]
Best of the Brokers for 04 March 2014 March 3, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com XCHANGING Cantor Fitzgerald has cut the outsourcing and IT group from “buy” to “hold” and lowered its target from 200p to 185p to reflect an expected pause for breath in the firm’s recovery plan this year. The broker thinks the firm is spending [...]
London Report: Ukraine unrest drags on FTSE as volatility climbs March 3, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index fell to a two-week low yesterday, led down by asset management firms as stocks most exposed to emerging markets fell on increasing tensions in Ukraine. The possibility of war between Russia and Ukraine hit stocks that are particularly sensitive to optimism over global markets, such as fund managers Schroders and Aberdeen [...]
New York Report: US stocks fall despite strong factory activity March 3, 2014 US STOCKS tumbled yesterday alongside other risky assets globally as tensions in Ukraine and Russia escalated after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour. News that Ukraine mobilised for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically overshadowed better-than-expected US data, including an index showing that factory [...]