Goldman traders to join KKR October 21, 2010 Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR) is hiring part of Goldman Sachs’ proprietary trading team, in the latest sign of private equity firms widening their business beyond pure leveraged buyouts. Goldman’s proprietary trading desk is being shut down in light of the “Volcker rule”, which limits the extent to which banks can bet with their own [...]
Publicis doubles forecasts for the year on strong UK and US sales October 21, 2010 FRENCH advertising group Publicis beat forecasts yesterday by posting third-quarter sales of €1.32bn (£1.17bn), prompting the firm to almost double its growth forecast for the year to around six per cent. Maurice Levy, chief executive of the world’s third-largest ad group, said the economic recovery would continue to boost the ad sector next year, despite [...]
Drinks offers give a boost to Luminar October 21, 2010 NIGHTCLUB operator Luminar said first half sales fell 21 per cent though recent trading had improved. Luminar, which runs the Oceana and Liquid nightclubs, said yesterday it made a pre-tax profit of £1.8m in the first half of the year, compared to a profit of £5.2m a year earlier. Sales were also down 16.9 per [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT STEP IN TO PROTECT BRITISH COMPANIES FROM OVERSEAS TAKEOVERS? October 21, 2010 ANINDYA ROY AVIVA “It’s not a fundamentally bad idea to allow overseas companies to buy British ones. We live in a globalised world. The inflows are good for the economy, but there is a balance to be made to protect the national interest.” CHARLES OPPENHEIM LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY “I have mixed feelings. When you think of [...]
Car makers report rise in production October 21, 2010 CAR production increased by 5.8 per cent in September compared with a year earlier, suggesting continued improvement in the motor industry, new figures showed yesterday. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 126,548 cars were built last month, bringing the total so far this year to 937,891, a 35 per cent increase on [...]
Tullow stock hit as well in Ghana fails to strike oil October 21, 2010 Tullow Oil yesterday said a well offshore Ghana had failed to find oil, prompting one broker to downgrade the British-based explorer and hitting its shares. In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, Tullow yesterday said its Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana had encountered water bearing reservoirs. Exploration director Angus [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 21, 2010 Schroders The asset management firm has hired Philippe Lespinard as its new chief investment officer of fixed income, effective from 1 November. Lespinard joins from Brevan Howard in London, where he was a partner and head of absolute return strategies. Prior to that, he was chief investment officer at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Paris. [...]
BAE profits to take hit from defence cuts October 21, 2010 EUROPE’S biggest defence contractor BAE Systems yesterday said the impact of the strategic defence review would be “modest” despite order cancellations meaning a reduction in earnings of around two per cent. In a trading update BAE said it would “now work with the UK Ministry of Defence to address the detailed programme implications” of the [...]
Angry Birds firm snapped up by gaming giant EA October 21, 2010 THE birds may be angry, but their developers are certainly celebrating. Electronic Arts yesterday said it plans to buy the publisher of hit game Angry Birds, one of the most popular Apps on Apple’s iPhone, pushing the second largest US video game publisher deeper into the mobile games market. EA will pay $20m (£12.7bn) in [...]
William Hill in World Cup boost October 21, 2010 Bookmaker William Hill said yesterday it expected to report operating profit at the top-end of analysts’ expectations after a strong third-quarter helped by favourable football results and the later stages of the World Cup. The company, which has a high-street and an online presence, said net revenue grew 22 per cent, with internet sales up [...]