Aldermore: Businesses are being failed by big banks May 20, 2010 ALDERMORE, the lender created from the ashes of Ruffler Bank, has warned that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are being suffocated because they cannot access credit. The institution, which was reinvigorated when it was taken over by private equity group AnaCap last year, fired a broadside at the likes of Barclays and HSBC when it [...]
Future wants to put the past behind it May 20, 2010 PUBLISHING giant Future saw its revenue slip but says the tide is turning after an “annus horribilis” last year. Adjusted pre-tax profits at the firm rose 13 per cent to £3.6m in the six months to 31 March while revenue dipped seven per cent to £71.4m. But chief executive Stevie Springer says the outlook for [...]
Smartphone sales to double May 20, 2010 GLOBAL shipments of smartphones may grow 50 per cent this year and drive explosive expansion in high-end display sales over the next five years, according to Samsung. Samsung has gone into overdrive producing seven times the number of ultra-thin mobile screens used in high-end smartphones than it did last year. But the firm’s mobile display [...]
Online gaming company NetPlay returns to growth May 20, 2010 ONLINE gaming company NetPlay said it returned to positive Ebitda in the first quarter of 2010. Gross bets for the period were £166m, an increase of 5.7 per cent year on year. As a result the company returned to profit during the period, posting a positive Ebitda of £200,000. A company spokesman said: “The swing [...]
Intec profits fall amid tough trading May 20, 2010 BILLING company Intec Telecom Systems yesterday posted a 52 per cent fall in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit, hurt by order delays, pricing pressures and unfavourable exchange rates. The company, which had warned of a lower results in March, said a shortfall in higher margin licence revenue had a direct impact on first half profitability. However, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 20, 2010 BAYER Citigroup reiterates its “buy” rating on Bayer. It says that although some risk-aversion in the run up to the release of Xarelto data is likely to remain a feature of the share price performance, it remains positive on this asset and on the stock and believes the current valuation provides an attractive long-term buying [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 20, 2010 KPMG Kathryn Britten has joined the accountancy firm as a partner and chairman of its growing forensic practice. Britten has over 30 years of audit and accountancy experience and specialises in professional negligence and commercial dispute issues. She joins KPMG from rival BDO, where she has been the national head of their forensic accounting and [...]
MAN FROM THE PRU IN SPOT OF PULP FRICTION May 20, 2010 SEASONED investors will be familiar with the mountain of paperwork that traditionally accompanies any City deal, but it does rather take the biscuit when recipients are actually forced to order waste-disposal skips in order to get the documents off their hands. Yet this, ladies and gents, is the position which stockbroker Charles Stanley finds itself, [...]
High Court lifts BA strike ban May 20, 2010 UNITE has won an appeal against a high court order banning a strike by BA cabin crew staff. BA was granted an injunction on Monday after the court ruled that the Unite union had not reported results of its strike ballot correctly to members. But Unite appealed against the decision, and the panel ruled 2-1 [...]
Car production soars by 44pc May 20, 2010 CAR production in Britain jumped by 44 per cent in April compared with the same month last year. A total of 98,290 cars were made in the month as the industry emerged from recession. Commercial vehicle production also rose – increasing 40.8 per cent to 10,777, according to the society of motoring Manufacturers and Traders. [...]