City says Asos a takover target October 6, 2014 ASOS shares soared nearly 15 per cent yesterday after analysts at UBS said the troubled online retailer was “ripe” for a takeover, with rival Amazon the most likely suitor. The company, which has issued three profit warnings in the past seven months, has been subject to previous takeover speculation, with eBay and Amazon cited as [...]
French PM Manuel Valls laughs off Andy Street’s faux pas and promises cheap Aspirin for Denis MacShane October 6, 2014 Sacre Bleu, a few short days after John Lewis chief Andy Street’s “France is over,” faux pas and the French PM Manuel Valls was in town, speaking at the Guildhall to a packed-out City audience yesterday. Orating in his mother-tongue (let’s hope everyone remembered their GCSE French), Valls said he thought Street had “drunk too [...]
George Osborne’s changed his unhealthy ways but most MPs indulge a tad too much October 6, 2014 They're in the public eye, up to their knees in advisers and not wanting for pocket money to spend in Holland & Barrett, but Britain’s MPs are an unhealthy bunch according to Nuffield Health. A poll of 100 MPs found almost half failed to meet the government’s recommended two-and-a-half hours of moderate activity a [...]
BNY Mellon fund division snaps up $23bn bond firm Cutwater October 6, 2014 BNY MELLON yesterday bought US fixed income firm Cutwater Asset Management to add to its roster of asset management subsidiaries. Cutwater, which manages $23bn (£14.3bn), will sit within BNY Mellon Investment Management (BNY-MIM) and work closely with London-based Insight Investment management, which is also owned by the New York custody bank. Cutwater was previously owned [...]
Bestway pays Co-op £620m for pharmacies October 6, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group completed the sale of its pharmacy business to Bestway for £620m yesterday, with the funds going to pay down some of the mutually owned company’s debts. The completion follows the announcement this summer that Bestway had fought off competition from other suitors for the 774-store chain, including Lloyds Pharmacy, Carlyle Group and [...]
September car sales rocket on confidence rise October 6, 2014 CAR SALES had their best September since 2004 as rising consumer confidence encouraged spending on big ticket items. There were 425,861 new cars registered last month, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which is 5.6 per cent higher than last September. This follows a climb of 9.4 per cent year on [...]
Battersea Power Station to put Frank Gehry and Norman Foster flats on sale October 6, 2014 Hundreds of homes designed by renowned architects Norman Foster and Frank Gehry will go on sale at Battersea Power Station this month, the owners revealed yesterday, with prices starting at £495,000. Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners have designed two schemes for the third phase of development at Battersea Power Station, with 1,305 [...]
Property returns to record high October 6, 2014 BRITAIN’S commercial property market is on track to deliver its strongest returns in 25 years, thanks to rising confidence in the UK economy, new research from M&G Real Estate shows. In a report published yesterday, the real estate fund manager hailed 2014 as an “exceptional year”, fuelled by increased liquidity, rising investor confidence and improving [...]
Eurozone losing battle against new recession October 6, 2014 A WAVE of disappointing data released yesterday showed the Eurozone was struggling to stave off another recession, with the European Central Bank’s lacklustre statement on Thursday failing to lift confidence. Market inflation expectations (based on swaps prices) fell to 1.83 per cent, their lowest since 2010. ECB president Mario Draghi disappointed investors last week when he failed [...]
London house prices could fall next year after booming 2014 October 6, 2014 The boom in London house prices will not only end next year, but could even fall, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). Their own forecast puts the decline at 2.6 per cent for 2015, which would be the first annual fall since 2009. House prices in the capital are expected to [...]