HORLICK PLANS SECOND PUSH INTO FILM INVESTMENT AT BRAMDEAN October 22, 2009 CITY superwoman Nicola Horlick has been keeping herself to herself of late, but she came out yesterday guns blazing to deny scurrilous rumours that her firm, Bramdean Asset Management, is on the block. “Bramdean is not for sale,” she insists, before launching into a tirade against idle gossipers. Horlick – who earlier this year was [...]
Sports Direct races ahead October 22, 2009 Mike Ashley’s budget sports retailer Sports Direct gave an up beat pre-close trading update, saying it is still confident of achieving earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of at least £150m in the current financial year. Ashley also said the board is comfortable the company could reduce its net debt to below £400m. The company, [...]
Retail sales stagnate for second month in a row October 22, 2009 DESPITE recent surveys suggesting a brighter outlook for the British high street, official data showed yesterday that retail sales failed to grow in September for the second month in a row. Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed there was no growth in the volume of retail sales compared to August. However, the [...]
PICKUP A PROPERTY BARGAIN October 22, 2009 NIGEL Pickup, manager of the Skandia Property fund, plans to use the vehicle’s £75m war chest to buy undervalued property as the commercial property market stabilises. Pickup said yesterday he has already bought Cheadle Royal Business Park in Manchester for £8.7m.
Availability of credit improving but lending remains subdued October 22, 2009 THE flow of lending to UK businesses improved markedly in August but still remained in negative territory, the Bank of England said yesterday. Its monthly Trends in Lending report also showed that, following robust capital market issuance over recent months, net funds raised by UK businesses weakened in August. The report said repayments outstripped new [...]
Macquarie beats BlackRock to Drapers Gardens offices October 22, 2009 AUSTRALIAN bank Macquarie has won the battle to occupy one of the City’s most sought-after office developments, Drapers Gardens. Macquarie was locked in a battle with fund manager BlackRock who was also eyeing the space, as City A.M. revealed exclusively last month. The Drapers Garden scheme – Canary Wharf’s only development outside the Docklands – [...]
Bankers grab luxury homes October 22, 2009 IN a fresh sign that bankers are feeling comfortable enough to splash the cash, enquiries for prime properties in Kensington and Chelsea have jumped in recent weeks, according to estate agents Knight Frank. Goldman Sachs was recently under the spotlight for awarding its 30,000 staff £500,000 each in bonuses, with some top traders set to [...]
Land Registry to cut 1,500 jobs October 22, 2009 The Land Registry yesterday unveiled plans to shed 1,500 jobs as part of plans to cut about £500m in costs over 10 years in an effort to safeguard its future after the housing market slump. The agency, which made a £130m loss last year, said it planned to cut around 1,500 of its 6,500 staff [...]
Seatwave and HMV team up October 22, 2009 Fan-to-fan ticket exchange Seatwave yesterday announced a partnership with high street retailer HMV, which will see it open in-store ticket exchanges. The ticket collection service will operate independently of hmvtickets. The partnership will also see Seatwave power a separate online ticket exchange for HMV where fans will be able to buy and sell tickets from [...]
Zurich loses 51,000 clients’ data October 22, 2009 Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services said it had called in auditors KPMG to investigate after details of 51,000 UK customers were lost at a data storage centre in South Africa. There is no sign so far the information has been misused by fraudsters, Zurich’s UK subsidiary said. KPMG will investigate the incident and will also [...]