UPS upgrades profit forecasts on hopes for a US economic recovery February 2, 2010 UPS yesterday announced that it expects a sharp increase in earnings as the US economy improves in 2010. The company, the world’s largest package delivery service, will be under close scrutiny. Deliveries of packages and goods are often taken as an indicator of the general health of the economy. Chairman and CEO Scott Davis claimed [...]
City Eye February 2, 2010 MANNEQUINS cast a surly stare over passers-by in front of New Look on London Wall, on the day the fashion retailer confirmed plans to raise up to £650m via a London Stock Exchange float.
A IS FOR… A TOUCH OF ACRIMONY AT ALCHEMY February 2, 2010 PROOF, if it were needed, that the old adage about time being the best healer does not always ring true. Private equity veteran Jon Moulton is in the preliminary throes of building his new business, Better Capital, after quitting his former firm Alchemy Partners last September amid a boardroom bust-up over strategy. (His resignation letter [...]
Cable & Wireless sets out proposals for its demerger February 2, 2010 Cable & Wireless (C&W) said yesterday it will raise a $500m (£314m) bond and inject an extra £30m into its pension fund as the UK’s second-largest fixed-line telecoms group finalises its demerger. Cable & Wireless, which has a 138-year history, plans to begin trading as two companies on 26 March. One unit becomes Cable & [...]
Fidelity slashes trading costs February 2, 2010 Fidelity Investments yesterday said it plans sharp price reductions for US online equity trading, the latest move in a price war among retail brokerages that drove down shares of several other firms. Fidelity, the Boston-based mutual fund powerhouse, also said it plans to waive trading fees for 25 exchange-traded funds offered by BlackRock’s iShares unit [...]
Munich Re ups dividend after solid year in 2009 February 2, 2010 MUNICH RE posted forecast-beating full-year results yesterday boosted by a fortuitous combination of unusually low disaster claims and the momentum from a post-crisis revival on financial markets. The world’s biggest reinsurer, in which US investor Warren Buffett has amassed a stake of more than five per cent, reported preliminary 2009 net profit of €2.56bn (£2.24bn), [...]
Retail funds smash £25bn yearly record February 2, 2010 RETAIL fund sales smashed through the £25bn-in-a-year barrier for the first time last year, the Investment Management Association (IMA) revealed yesterday. The record figure was spurred by investors looking for alternatives to holding cash. The best selling funds for the year were corporate bonds. They topped the table for eight months of the year, with [...]
Credit Suisse: February 2, 2010 AS might be expected for the largest retail float since Debenhams in 2006, a raft of investment banks have been brought in to guide New Look. Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Cazenove are joint sponsors and bookrunners. Lazard is in on the bookrunning action, while Barclays, Lloyds TSB and RBS Hoare Govett are co-lead [...]
Hampson looks to raise £60m February 2, 2010 Aerospace and automotive manufacturing group Hampson Industries yesterday announced a proposal to raise £59.5m via a share placing and open offer to reduce net debt and revamp the group’s financial structure. Over 119m new ordinary shares will be on the table at a share price of 50p which represents a 22.8 per cent discount to [...]
Toyota braced for sales hit from accelerator-related car recalls February 2, 2010 Toyota’s unprecedented recall of millions of vehicles with accelerator problems is taking a toll on sales and may force the world’s largest automaker to cut 2010 sales forecasts. In the first public comment from an executive at Toyota’s head office, the company’s executive in charge of quality said yesterday he was expecting a sales hit [...]