BEST OF THE BROKERS February 1, 2010 BSKYB Evolution cut its valuation 10p to 560p, despite 10 per cent revenue growth. Concerns about rising programming and transmission costs mean it sees the 50 per cent earnings growth as too optimistic. Other worries include threats from web rivals and regulators, and necessary investment denting operating leverage. WM MORRISON Execution has raised its rating [...]
German data grab to tackle tax evasion February 1, 2010 Germany should do everything in its power to obtain data to fight tax evasion, Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday after a whistleblower offered to sell German authorities secret Swiss bank data. The informant is understood to have offered data of up to 1,500 possible tax evaders with accounts in Switzerland which could lead to €100m [...]
Davos is outdated as power is redistributed February 1, 2010 So you didn’t go to the World Economic Forum in Davos this year. Me neither. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. As Davos coverage spun through the media again this year, I wondered whether those 2,000 people who do go actually control the future of business. Is it just my wishful thinking that power [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 1, 2010 GMT Communications Partners The private equity group has promoted Natalie Tydeman, pictured, to partner and Vikram Krishna to principal. Tydeman joined the group in 2007 as a senior adviser from Fremantle media, where she was a senior vice president. Krishna has been at GMT since 2005. He was formerly a manager at PwC, focusing on [...]
SAUSAGE MAKER SIZZLES ON CELEBRITY DEAL February 1, 2010 SAUSAGE-maker Cranswick yesterday cheered investors as it posted a 31 per cent rise in sales in the last quarter of 2009 and announced a new agreement to supply celebrity chef Jamie Oliver (pictured above with Cranswick CEO Bernard Hoggarth) with the pork for his new food range. Cranswick’s turnover increased to £200m over the three [...]
John Lewis opens Olympic store February 1, 2010 Department store John Lewis is to open a shop next to the 2010 Olympics site as part of its sponsorship deal. The shop, in Stratford, will sell Olympic merchandise and become the 26th home-grown sponsor. An estimated 10,000 licensed products which will be on sale. The John Lewis flagship store in Oxford Street will also [...]
BA and Iberia up on deal hopes February 1, 2010 Shares in British Airways rose yesterday on hopes its planned merger with Spanish carrier Iberia will go ahead, despite the European Union (EU) deepening its investigation into the plan. BA, Iberia and American Airlines offered to modify their plans to share more of their lucrative trans-Atlantic routes in an effort to settle a competition dispute [...]
Fears over boiler-room scam February 1, 2010 Thousands of investors’ personal details have been discovered on a “master list” circulating between fraudsters involved in boiler-room scams. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and City of London Police have warned that the list contains the names of around 10,000 investors, some with addresses and phone numbers. This has led to the launch of Operation [...]
John Lewis to open “Olympic” store February 1, 2010 DEPARTMENT store John Lewis is to open a shop next to the 2010 Games site as part of its sponsorship deal. The shop, in Stratford, will sell Olympic merchandise and become the 26th home-grown sponsor. An estimated 10,000 licensed products which will be on sale. The john Lewis Flagship store in Oxford Street will also [...]
Manufacturing activity at 15-year high February 1, 2010 MANUFACTURING activity expanded at its fastest pace in 15 years in January, according to a new survey. The CIPS/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 56.7 last month from an upwardly revised 54.6 in December. It was the highest since October 1994 and well above analysts’ forecasts for a reading of 54.0. The improvement came [...]