Farewell Nomad hello Champagne Odyssey at Daniel Stewart’s Christmas party December 10, 2014 ‘Tis the season to be jolly and for those of us in the City, the Christmas drinks invitations are piling as high as the empty mince pie casings in the bins. But there’s one party The Capitalist has been looking forward to the most – Daniel Stewart’s Champagne Odyssey, taking place this evening at Brown’s. [...]
Sledge fund: Hundreds of Santas run through City for Brainwave December 10, 2014 City workers heading for the Tube on Tuesday evening may have received a bemusing surprise – as hundreds of their peers ran past dressed head-to-toe as Little Saint Nick. The annual 5k fun run through the City started at Old Spitalfields market and ended up there once more – with mince pies and mulled wine [...]
Indian tycoon Anand Mahindra to buy Saab owner following Swedish car group’s collapse December 10, 2014 Indian billionaire Anand Mahindra is close to sealing a deal to buy the remnants of collapsed Swedish car group Saab, marking his latest attempt to accelerate his firm Mahindra & Mahindra’s global expansion. Mahindra & Mahindra is India’s leading sport utility vehicle (SUV) maker by sales. He plans to buy a majority stake in the [...]
Stagecoach’s share price falls as bus wing hits bump in the road December 10, 2014 Stagecoach yesterday warned investors that it would make less profit than expected from its UK and US bus operations this year, sending the group’s share price down by nearly seven per cent. Chief executive Martin Griffiths said the transport operator was in excellent financial shape, but warned that the mix of profit would be altered [...]
Earnings drop knocks stocks at Micro Focus December 10, 2014 IT ENTERPRISE firm Micro Focus yesterday reported a dip in half-year pre-tax profit, adding that it was yet to show the full impact of its $1.2bn (£765m) purchase of US rival Attachmate. Shares fell seven per cent after publication of the results. The British company said revenues, on a constant currency basis, were $208.3m in the six [...]
Stamp duty changes set to boost residential property sales December 10, 2014 The newly reformed stamp duty tax is set to boost residential sales, according to a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (Rics) market survey released today. The surveyors are forecasting a sales boost of between two and five per cent. The reforms ended the so-called slab structure of stamp duty and reduced the tax burden [...]
Oil cuts UK’s trade deficit December 10, 2014 THE UK’s trade deficit – the value of exports minus the value of imports – narrowed to £2bn in October from £2.8bn in September, according to figures published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics. Total exports rose to £42bn while imports fell to £44bn. The main contributor was a fall in oil prices – [...]
Rate hike could help recovery December 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S economy is strong enough to handle higher interest rates, and would be supported by tighter policy, the Bank of England’s Ian McCafferty said yesterday. He believes that there may be less slack in the economy than other officials estimate, and has voted for a 0.25 percentage point rise. “Persistently low interest rates can increase [...]
City Moves for 11 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 10, 2014 Baringa James Belmont joins the management consultancy as director of its new risk analytics service. Belmont has over 15 years’ experience in consultancy and industry, and has held senior positions at Barclays, Alliance & Leicester and PA Consulting. Linklaters The law firm has appointed Scott Campbell as managing partner for the United Arab Emirates. The [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 December 2014 December 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com CARNIVAL Numis reiterated its “hold” rating, noting that the firm was a “major beneficiary of the collapse in fuel prices”. If current fuel prices were broadly maintained, the broker stated, it estimated that the company could make a bunker fuel cost saving of [...]