Listed record label hopes signing will boost its stock October 14, 2010 Innovative Plus quoted Imperial Music and Media (IMM), the UK’s only publicly listed record label, has announced it will sign a major new musician in the next week. The label’s stock spiked 35 per cent last month when it announced another signing. A company spokesman said the new act would be a new “folk-to-mainstream” artist. [...]
Actelion shares jump as market looks for next takeover target October 14, 2010 SHARES in Actelion jumped again yesterday on new market talk the Swiss biotech group could be the next bid target in the pharmaceuticals sector. Traders said markets were speculating that GlaxoSmithKline, which has a drug partnership with Actelion, could offer 72 Swiss francs (£47.30) per share. Sanofi-Aventis launched a $18.5bn hostile bid for US biotech [...]
Ocado still overvalued, says analyst October 14, 2010 OCADO’S stock fell another 3.5p yesterday to 123.5p, despite its announcement this week that it has begun work on its new warehouse in Warwickshire. It is now trading 46 per cent below the mid-point of its initial IPO price range. But yesterday another analyst released a note warning the stock could still have a long [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 14, 2010 BlackRock Ian Winship has moved over from Brevan Howard to join BlackRock’s sterling fundamental fixed income team as a senior portfolio manager. Winship has 21 years of experience in the investment industry, including an 11-year stint at Aberdeen Asset Management as head of global rates and his most recent position at Brevan Howard as head [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 14, 2010 AUTONOMY Evolution Securities rates the software company a “sell” with a target price of £11.75. The broker has cut its earnings per share forecast by 25 per cent for the fourth quarter, and by 22 per cent for 2011, following last week’s profit warning, but also sees a five per cent growth in revenue next [...]
CVS pays $78m fine in meth case October 14, 2010 CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $77.6m (£48.5m) to settle an investigation that its drugstores allowed widespread sales of cough medicines used to manufacture the illegal stimulant methamphetamine. CVS Pharmacy, a subsidiary, admitted it sold pseudoephedrine to criminals who used it to make meth, the US Attorney in Los Angeles said yesterday.
French strike call causes panic October 14, 2010 French unions yesterday called a nationwide strike for 19 October, hoping to galvanise the country into a drawn-out confrontation with the government over a proposed rise in the retirement age. With some French people already fearing a national protest similar to one which paralysed the country in 1995, motorists have begun panic-buying of fuel after [...]
Sugar hits eight-month high October 14, 2010 Sugar futures sprang to an eight-month high for the third day running yesterday due to crop problems in leading grower Brazil and chart-based investment funds buying in the sweetener, analysts said. The rest of the complex failed to match that surge as cocoa futures ended mixed and arabica coffee rose modestly, helped by a 2010 [...]
Wetherspoon shares hit as execs leave October 14, 2010 JD Wetherspoon yesterday surprised investors by announcing the departure of two of its top executives. Finance director Keith Down and chief operating officer Paul Harbottle are to leave the pubs group “in due course” said a statement, which offered no explanation for the sudden shake-up. Wetherspoon’s has weathered the economic downturn well, with Down considered [...]
Asos jumps on overseas sales October 14, 2010 ONLINE fashion retailer Asos said it was on track to meet full-year profit forecasts after a 47 per cent jump in second-quarter sales, led by demand from abroad and sales of aviator jackets and capes. Asos shares, which have more than doubled this year, fell around six percent as analysts worried about a slowdown in [...]