BEST OF THE BROKERS October 20, 2009 CABLE & WIRELESSAfter a 45 per cent underperformance, Investec said that negative fundamentals are increasingly factored into the concensus for Cable & Wireless, making a share price re-rating overdue. The broker said that demerger hopes could move the shares higher and upgraded the stock to “hold” with a new target price of 140p. BLUEBAY ASSET [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 20, 2009 St Modwen PropertiesThe property group has appointed Katherine Innes Ker, pictured, and Lesley James as non-executive directors. Innes Ker currently holds non-executive directorships at Taylor Wimpey and Tribal Group, while James, who also becomes chair of the remuneration committee, was formerly group human resources director at Tesco and a non-executive at retailers Liberty International and [...]
Greggs outlines store expansion plans as baguette sales increase October 20, 2009 Baker Greggs yesterday detailed plans to open 600 more stores, create 6,000 jobs, and upgrade its supply chain at a cost of up to £300m as it posted a rise in third-quarter sales. The firm, which sells sausage rolls, cakes and bread to over 6m customers a week from about 1,400 outlets, said it intended [...]
Gap is widening between best and worst brands October 20, 2009 THINGS have picked up on the high street over the last month, but it’s not a case of a rising tide lifting all boats: the recession seems to have made the customer more discerning. Of the 25 high street retailers which BrandIndex measures daily, we’ve taken three of our top-ranked, and compared them with three [...]
Finance M&A to jump October 20, 2009 The European financial services market is set for a wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity, according to Pricewaterhouse-Coopers. In its European Financial Markets M&A Insights report, the accountancy firm said that the “steady as she goes” ethos that has been prevalent throughout 2009 will give way to a “restructuring-led wave of deal activity” as [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU HAVE ANY SYMPATHY WITH ROYAL MAIL WORKERS OVER THE IMPENDING STRIKE ACTION? October 20, 2009 JONATHAN POLIN SALANS“Any sympathy that the postal workers might have had, they have lost.The public are not going to sympathise with them if they are causing widespread disruption. But it won’t affect the City as much as you might think because of email, UPS and document exchange systems that are already in use across businesses.” [...]
Adecco buys rival for $1.3bn October 20, 2009 ADECCO, the world’s largest staffing company, is buying American rival MPS Group for $1.3bn (£790m), boosting its high-margin and more recession-resilient professional staffing business. Adecco also said it was launching a SFr900m (£540m) mandatory convertible bond to accommodate the cash deal. The MPS deal, plus the recent acquisition of Britain’s Spring Group, means close to [...]
Insolvencies for Q3 are falling October 20, 2009 THE number of companies with significant and critical financial problems has fallen both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, figures from the rescue, recovery and restructuring specialists Begbies Traynor showed yesterday. The figures show how HMRC’s Business Payment Support Service, which has seen more than 215,000 companies defer payment of £3.79bn in tax liabilities, are helping, it said. [...]
Mandelson in warning over post strikes October 20, 2009 THE finances of state-owned Royal Mail will dive into the red if a planned national strike by workers goes ahead this week, business secretary Lord Mandelson said yesterday. Thousands of postal workers will stage strikes organised by the Communication Workers Union on Thursday and Friday this week in a dispute over pay, jobs and modernisation [...]
Balfour Beatty wins contracts October 20, 2009 Balfour Beatty, the construction company yesterday said it has won a series of contracts from US military clients worth £273m. The contracts included the renovation and construction of barracks and the building of a new dormitory. Balfour Beatty also said it has won some contracts with non-military clients including a government complex in Texas, plus [...]