Oil touches 8-week high as US supplies dwindle March 10, 2010 OIL prices settled higher yesterday in choppy trading after a government report showed that gasoline stocks in the United States dropped unexpectedly. But after reaching a fresh eight-week high of $83.03, oil prices pared some of their gains on profit-taking. US crude for April delivery settled 60 cents higher at $81.81 per barrel. London ICE [...]
Britain faces two years of slow growth March 10, 2010 WEAK growth is still plaguing Britain at the start of the new year and sluggish growth will continue for the next two years, the respected think-tank the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) forecast yesterday. The think-tank said that UK output grew 0.3 per cent in the three months ending in February after [...]
Investors line up ahead of law firm IPOs March 10, 2010 INVESTORS are queuing up to buy stakes in City law firms ahead of a series of planned flotations in the sector next year. Lyceum Capital and Investec are among a handful of businesses already interested in the legal sector once the government’s Legal Services Act comes into operation. City A.M. understands that Lloyds Development Capital [...]
Our unique City panel wants Ken Clarke to be chancellor March 10, 2010 FOR months now, people in the City have been telling us that they don’t rate George Osborne. But these findings from the City A.M./PHI Panel offer the first conclusive proof that the Square Mile would prefer someone else to run the economy. According to our panel, that man should be Ken Clarke, who held the [...]
Digital bill is savaged by ISP bosses March 10, 2010 ON the morning Gordon Brown insisted Britain’s digital economy would be the envy of the world, his digital economy bill was being savaged by business chiefs. Web giants Google, Facebook, eBay and Yahoo have teamed up with internet service providers including BT, Virgin Media, Orange, TalkTalk to protest against an amendment to the digital economy [...]
Fortis’ fine mars profit return March 10, 2010 BELGIUM-based insurance group Fortis returned to an annual profit, resumed its dividend and announced a name change yesterday as it sought a fresh start a year and a half after its dramatic break-up. The financial services group, stripped down to become a pure insurer after a state-led bailout, said it would change its name to [...]
E.ON cautious for 2010 as gas weakness persists March 10, 2010 GERMANY’S E.ON, the world’s largest utility by sales, yesterday joined rivals in a more cautious view of 2010 earnings as the financial crisis hit prices and demand. Taking into account planned asset sales, E.ON said its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes might rise as much as three per cent in 2010 from €9.6bn (£8.7bn) [...]
Meerkat advert creator Chime beats the market as it posts best ever results March 10, 2010 ALEXANDER the Meerkat creator Chime Communications posted its best ever results yesterday. Chime, which provides services in public relations, advertising and sports marketing, said its adjusted pre-tax profit was £18.8m, compared with £16.5m last year. Revenue rose 8.5 per cent to £300.9m, boosted by growth in its sports marketing division due to the latest acquisition [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 10, 2010 PUNCH TAVERNS Numis Securities has issued a “buy” recommendation on Punch Taverns. It believes Punch’s shares have been overlooked by the market in recent weeks, and thinks they are well placed to outperform as the company stabilises average pub profitability in the second half of the year. Says first half results on 11 April should [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 10, 2010 Reed Smith The law firm has hired advertising law expert Marina Palomba to its partnership. Palomba joins the firm’s advertising group in London from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), where she has been legal director for eight years, advising all the main agencies in the UK including M&C Saatchi, Abbott Mead Vickers and [...]