All eyes on Anglo update ahead of Xstrata report August 2, 2009 MINING giant Xstrata is braced to post disappointing results at its interims tomorrow, but the focus will be on its nil-premium merger with rival Anglo American. Xstrata made the approach for a “merger of equals” back in June, but was met with hostility by Anglo, which last week reported a 69 per cent drop in [...]
KICK OFF AT ESPN UK August 2, 2009 ESPN will today become the first non-UK channel to show Premier League football in the UK, as it launches its ESPN UK channel on Sky and Virgin Media. The channel will show 46 live Barclays Premier League matches – which it bought the rights to after Setanta UK went into administration – plus a selection [...]
ITV mulls new chief August 2, 2009 ITV’s board is today due to discuss the candidates short-listed to replace Michael Grade as chief executive, with some analysts expecting an announcement at its interim results on Thursday. HMV chief executive Simon Fox was last week the City’s new favourite to step into Grade’s shoes when he steps down at the end of the [...]
Curtain up on a global drama of a different kind August 2, 2009 IT’S August and the streets of the Square Mile feel different. Many (especially those with families) are on holiday or thinking about it, the pace of news from Westminster and Whitehall is subdued and London is filled with foreign tourists marching across the City’s Millennium Bridge or up Ludgate Hill to enjoy our history and [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 2, 2009 Davis Service GroupThe textile maintenance business has appointed Peter Ventress, currently president of office furniture provider Staples, as its new chief executive.Ventress, 48, was formerly chief executive of Corporate Express, before the company was acquired by Staples last year. He will succeed current boss Roger Dye, who earlier this year announced his intention to retire [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 2, 2009 LOGICALogica received a double upgrade to “overweight” from Morgan Stanley, which says the stock is now its top pick. “Time to get positive”, said the broker, as it raised the price target 86 per cent to 130p. It said that the discount on the stock due to gearing concerns is no longer warranted and that [...]
Metrovacesca quits Walbrook August 2, 2009 Legal & General is set to land £120m in compensation after Spanish property company Metrovacesa pulled out of the Walbrook property project in the City. Metrovacesa bought the Walbrook project from Legal & General in September 2006 for £240m. It had agreed to begin demolishing the buildings in Walbrook Square before December 2012 to build [...]
The Smith & Nephew chief intent on making waves in tough times August 2, 2009 When politicians say that Britain should have more upmarket, research intensive manufacturing businesses, what they really mean is that we need more Smith & Nephews. Over the last five years, the firm, founded over 150 years ago, has grown its sales from £1.39bn to £2.3bn in 2008. It invests a very strong four per cent [...]
BANKS HIDE BEHIND DISGUISE AT GLORIOUS GOODWOOD WASH-OUT July 30, 2009 A RIGHT royal washout yesterday at the third day of Glorious Goodwood, one of the City’s favourite sporting events (read: an extravagant booze-up in posh suits and frocks). The rain came down hard on several occasions, sending those who had arrived for the annual Ladies Day scuttling for cover under their hats – and huddling [...]
REVEALED: WALL STREET BANKS’ BONUS BONANZA July 30, 2009 NEARLY 5,000 bankers at the top nine US lenders were paid bonuses of more than $1m in 2008, despite their employers receiving $175bn (£106bn) in taxpayer-backed bailout funds, it was revealed yesterday. New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo found that staff at the banks, all of which received funds via the Troubled Asset Relief Programme [...]