Numis boss Oliver Hemsley hails old fashioned advantage over hi-tech big banks October 1, 2014 Profits soared at mid-cap broker Numis, the firm said in a trading update yesterday, with its chief executive aiming to increase the firm’s reach to clients of every size. Full-year revenues were up 19 per cent, as the broker completed 44 transactions, including 16 initial public offerings (IPOs). Traditionally, Numis has specialised on small- and [...]
PwC: Customers don’t switch banks because they don’t care October 1, 2014 Most current account holders distrust their bank – but just 11 per cent have moved to a different lender since the seven-day switching scheme came in, a PwC report showed today. Half of customers are aware that bank regulations have changed since the crash, but 57 per cent believe it will make no difference, adding [...]
London protest for Hong Kong in China crisis October 1, 2014 Thousands of demonstrators gathered outside the Chinese embassy in London yesterday to support pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in Hong Kong after China said it would vet candidates for a leadership election in 2017.
Sainsbury’s new boss Mike Coupe blames “perfect storm” for sales drop October 1, 2014 Sainsbury's new chief executive said that a “perfect storm” of effects had plunged sales further into the red in the second quarter as the supermarket retailer cut its full-year sales forecast and warned that it might review its dividend. In his first official trading update since taking over from Justin King in July, Mike [...]
Sainsbury’s needs to shore up the shop – Bottom Line October 1, 2014 In business, timing is everything, and retail moves faster than most businesses. Justin King, Sainsbury’s ex-kingpin, seems to have grasped this better than most when he sailed off into the sunset earlier this year, just as the storm clouds were gathering over the supermarket. Under King’s helm, Sainsbury’s reported a 2.1 per cent rise in [...]
Findel races to make first H1 profit in years October 1, 2014 Home shopping group Findel said yesterday it was on track to deliver its first half-year, pre-tax profit in six years thanks to a strong performance from its catalogue business Express Gifts. Its Kitbag business recently won the rights to run McLaren’s Formula 1 team online store.
UK finance watchdog launches probe into Tesco’s profit debacle October 1, 2014 Tesco was put under further pressure yesterday after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it had launched a full investigation into the Tesco accounting scandal that had knocked £4bn off its market value. Britain’s biggest supermarket stunned the City after revealing last week that it had overstated first-half profits by £250m. The accounting error, which [...]
Walker Greenbank posts rise in pre-tax profits in three markets October 1, 2014 FURNITURE maker Walker Greenbank yesterday announced that its first-half, pre-tax profits rose from £2m to £2.3m on the back of strong performances in its three main markets – the UK, Europe and the US. In the UK, the firm’s main market, sales grew 10 per cent year-on-year, while they rose 12.2 per cent in constant [...]
100 Women in Hedge Funds: MPC new girl Kristin Forbes’s talk goes from Bard to verse October 1, 2014 Kristin Forbes, the American economist who became one of the Bank of England’s newbies this summer, could have been a breath of fresh air. She’s the first woman to serve on the bank’s rate-setting committee for five years – she could have really shaken things up. But alas, she’s toeing the party line… of shoehorning [...]
Julius Baer’s Next Generation Summit leaves CEO Boris Collardi feeling a bit horse October 1, 2014 Attendees of Julius Baer’s Next Generation Summit in The Crystal at Royal Victoria Docks yesterday were no doubt looking forward to seeing the wealth manager’s chief Boris Collardi give his welcome address. But it turned out to be no more than a welcome smile, because poor Collardi lost his voice. “He has to just sit [...]