BEST OF THE BROKERS August 18, 2009 REGUSPanmure Gordon downgraded its recommendation from “buy” to “hold” as the firm’s shares inch towards the broker’s target price of 81p after a strong run. The company will come into focus next week when it reports its interim results and Panmure expects pressures to emerge in occupancy and pricing, and is tempted to lock in [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs August 18, 2009 RBC Capital MarketsThe corporate and investment banking arm of the Royal Bank of Canada has hired Phil Halper as a director in its Scandinavian rates trading team, based in London. Halper joins the firm with 15 years of market experience, having most recently worked at the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was a senior [...]
The recession is not going to put an end to the online free-for-all August 18, 2009 IF you have spent most of your working life championing the web, it must be hard when it turns against you. But type the name “Chris Anderson” and “plagiarism” into Google, and it provides 50,000 results, most of them from the blogsphere. It seems the editor of Silicon Valley bible Wired and author of cult [...]
Tesco’s rivals eat into its market share August 18, 2009 TESCO, the UK’s biggest retailer, is continuing to lose market share, according to new figures, despite relaunching its Clubcard. The supermarket recently beefed up its loyalty card scheme, offering shoppers two points for every £1 spent, as opposed to just one. It had hoped the tactics would stop customers shopping at rivals like Asda and [...]
WILL TESCO’S CLUBCARD STOP IT FROM LOSING MARKET SHARE? August 18, 2009 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWNI’m sure it’s being done as a way to fight back against the competition. There are groups of shoppers who chase the cheapest deal, so this may encourage more customer loyalty. NICK BUBB PALI INTERNATIONALIt’s Tesco’s trump card. Whether it will attract away from the competition is another matter. WM Morrison doesn’t [...]
TRAIN FARES SET TO DROP NEXT YEAR August 18, 2009 &9632; Rail fares to be cut for first time since privatisation&9632; Cuts come as train firms struggle with franchise payments&9632; Rail companies could hike non-regulated fares to plug gap RAIL fares are set to come down for the first time since privatisation, but there were fears yesterday that commuters might be hit by rising railway [...]
CAMERON WARNS ON BRITISH DEBT August 18, 2009 TORY leader David Cameron came under fire from the Labour party yesterday after he warned that Britain could struggle to repay its debt. Speaking at the Royal Society of Arts, Cameron said that increased government debt runs the risk of higher interest rates and “not being able to meet your obligations”. However, the opposition leader [...]
Countrywide boss in scrap August 18, 2009 COUNTRYWIDE chairman Harry Hill has triggered a fierce City row by trying to oust board members from an Aim company in which he is a shareholder by sending out pre-ticked voting cards. The activist investor, who owns 19 per cent of Sovereign Reversions, has been slammed by the firm’s board, with executive director Rupert Pearce [...]
Time is right for Broadgate stake sale August 18, 2009 NOTHING symbolised the post Big Bang world in the City more than the development of the Broadgate complex near Liverpool Street and Moorgate in the 1980s. The ice rink and the gleaming buildings fitted out for the likes of Shearson Lehman and SGWarburg were the focal point for the new City, before even the first [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 18, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES THOMAS COOK SALE PLANA large part of Arcandor’s 53 per cent stake in Thomas Cook could be sold to institutional investors as early as next month as creditor banks of the insolvent German retailer try to claw back their loans. Two people close to the banking consortium said a share placing “theoretically still [...]