WPP is past the worst as it looks to World Cup for boost March 7, 2010 WPP is looking to the World Cup to kick start the weakend advertising industry. The advertising giant, headed by Sir Martin Sorrell, is hoping that the World Cup, Shanghai Expo, US mid-term elections and UK general election will give it a platform to crawl out of the advertising recession. The world’s biggest advertising firm last [...]
Tournament isn’t Holy Grail March 7, 2010 WPP hopes the World Cup will help prevent yet another annus horribilis for advertising. The signs are good; the advertising market will remain almost flat this year, a reversal from the steep declines seen in 2007 and 2008. This will be largely aided by a dramatic spike in revenue – as much as 16 per [...]
More banking roles on offer, says agency March 7, 2010 RECRUITER Michael Page said the UK’s financial institutions were back on the hiring trail after indicating it had been asked to fill twice as many banking roles as compared to a year ago. The London based group said that by the end of 2009 recruitment in the banking sector was showing signs of improvement and [...]
Populist politicians must stop punishing City March 7, 2010 AT FIRST glance it is hard to see how goings on in the City can have any bearing on the UK’s thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). On one hand you have the huge multi-national banks with which the City is usually associated employing tens of thousands of people globally and issuing multi-million pound [...]
Matalan owner in line for payout March 7, 2010 JOHN Hargreaves, founder of discount clothing and homeware chain Matalan, could reap a £250m dividend as part of a refinancing deal. Hargreaves is reported to be looking at a £525m refinancing after the failure of the Lancashire-based company’s £1.5bn sale last year. One of the most substantial for a British retail company, the payout would [...]
Networks line up for iPad deal March 7, 2010 Network providers will meet Apple executives this week to tie up contracts to carry the iPad. The new device from Apple will go on sale in the UK in April and mobile companies including Orange and Vodafone are desperate to provide data coverage. Early indications suggest the iPad will not be restricted to one carrier, [...]
Qinetiq braced for heavy cuts March 7, 2010 QINETIQ chief executive Leo Quinn looks set to announce a number of stinging cost cutting measures in order to stem the losses at the defence group. The Hampshire based company was forced to issue two profit alerts in the last few months, warning that the cost of war in Afghanistan had resulted in lower spending [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 7, 2010 Persimmon Credit Suisse has upped its target price on the housebuilder to 678p following strong full-year results. The broker predicts volume growth of 10 per cent and price growth of 8 per cent this year, with the latter attributable to mix impact rather than underlying price inflation. Credit Suisse also expects further deleveraging from the [...]
Investment Dar mulls aid offer March 7, 2010 Kuwait’s Investment Dar, which owns half of British luxury carmaker Aston Martin, said yesterday it was considering using a $5.2 bn (£3.4bn) state rescue facility. The Islamic investment firm said in a statement that the government’s aid package would set the legal framework for its restructuring process, amid the dissent of some creditors and investors [...]
RBS sale will not increase competition March 7, 2010 PLANS to make the banking sector more competitive through the sale of Royal Bank of Scotland assets have been cast into doubt. Spanish giant Santander now appears to be the only bank with the financial clout to provide the estimated £2bn to support the struggling bank’s loan book, which stands at £24bn. The Treasury had [...]