Sugar seeks junior apprentice May 21, 2009 A group of 10 teenagers will feel the sharp edge of Sir Alan Sugar’s tongue, with one becoming the tycoon’s “Junior Apprentice”, in a spin-off of the BBC’s hit business reality show. Candidates will compete in tasks, designed to test their entrepreneurial skills, to win a career-based prize worth up to £25,000.
Qataris make preferred bid for Panmure May 21, 2009 PANMURE Gordon, the 133-year-old City stockbroker, said yesterday it had conditionally raised £23m via a share placing with QInvest, Qatar’s largest investment bank. The firm’s decision to accept QInvest’s proposal came after lengthy deliberations over the merits of two further stakebuilding offers from private equity firm BlueGem and hedge fund SPQR Capital. Under the terms [...]
Investec hopeful despite slump in full-year profits May 21, 2009 SOUTH African specialist bank Investec saw 2009 full-year net profit fall by a quarter to £292m, it said yesterday, but added that it expects impairment to level out. The group, led by chief executive Stephen Koseff, saw impairment losses jump from £114m to £256m in 2009, but managing director Bernard Kantor said he expected bad [...]
British Land shares suffer as values cut May 21, 2009 SHARES in British Land took a battering yesterday after the company wrote down £3.2bn on the value of its property portfolio, reviving fears that banks will suffer huge losses from commercial mortgage lending. Announcing its annual results, the commercial property group said its net asset value tumbled 64 per cent to 398p a share, well [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS THE WORST NOW OVER FOR THE BRITISH HOUSING MARKET? May 21, 2009 DAVID THOMSON CHARTERED INSURANCE INSTITUTE“Small shifts in mortgage and house price data is just a blip. The housing market won’t return in terms of volume for several months. Consumers need to feel that there’s an upturn, and buyers need to know they can return to the market with confidence.” GRAHAM RIVERS WIN PLC“Easter always brings an [...]
Ryanair pursues pay cuts for Aer Lingus directors May 21, 2009 IRISH budget airline Ryanair kept up the pressure on arch rival Aer Lingus on Thursday with a campaign to extract large pay cuts from its chairman and non-executive directors. Ryanair, Aer Lingus’ biggest shareholder with a near 30 per cent stake, is proposing the former state carrier’s chairman Colin Barrington receive &1119;35,000 (£30,648) in pay [...]
M&B boss out on hedge loss May 21, 2009 THE BOSS of Britian’s biggest pub chain Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) resigned yesterday after the company revealed it would lose a further £69m in a disastrous bet on interest rates and revealed a 48 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £44m for the six months to 11 April. Chief executive Tim Clarke, stepped down [...]
Nick Leslau’s Max Property wins early success as floats at 200m May 21, 2009 AIM-quoted Max Property Group, the vehicle set up by tycoon Nick Leslau to take advantage of rock bottom property prices, saw its shares trading 30 per cent above their IPO price as they debuted yesterday, after the firm raised £200m in its share offer. The offer price was set at 100p, but the shares were [...]
WHAT DOES TIM CLARKE’S DEPARTURE MEAN FOR MITCHELLS & BUTLERS? May 21, 2009 JOHN BEAUMONT SINGERS “The resignation of Tim Clarke may be a bit of a shock to the market initially. He has been very good at guiding the strategy of the company since its demerger. But this does not change our thoughts that the company is well positioned to continue taking market share and is under-valued. [...]
Shanks seeks 71m in funds May 21, 2009 SHANKS, the waste management group, launched a massively discounted £71m cash call yesterday, saying it needed to cut its debt, and said its pre-tax profit was down 18 per cent to £33.9m. It will issue 158.7m new shares, giving two new shares for every three existing ones, at 45 pence each, around half the company’s [...]