Close posts earnings up 16pc but Winterflood unit weighs March 10, 2015 Close Brothers yesterday said that adjusted operating half-year profit to the end of January rose by 16 per cent to £108.6m despite weakness from its Winterflood arm. Its asset management business, led by Martin Andrew, accounted for £5.1m of the profit – a rise of 59 per cent in the corresponding period the previous year. [...]
Gatwick airport sees passenger numbers surge March 10, 2015 Passenger numbers at Gatwick swelled in February, figures reveal today, adding weight to the airport’s claim that it should be allowed to add a runway instead of Heathrow. More than 2.4m passengers travelled through Gatwick Airport last month, a seven per cent increase on the same period in 2014. The growth was driven by international [...]
City Moves for 11 March 2015 | Who’s switching jobs March 10, 2015 Linklaters The law firm has announced the appointment of Michael Kent as divisional practice head of finance and projects for a four-year term. He has been a partner at Linklaters since 1999, and currently heads its global financial regulation group. Baring Asset Management Rod Aldridge has been appointed head of wholesale distribution for Europe, the [...]
FTSE 100 index in biggest drop of the year – London Report March 10, 2015 Britain’s top share index yesterday suffered its biggest decline so far this year, hit by drops in insurer Prudential and energy stocks such as BG. Prudential fell 3.1 per cent as the loss of its chief executive, Tidjane Thiam, to Credit Suisse took the shine off a 14 per cent rise in 2014 operating profits. [...]
Weibo boasts unprecedented user growth and better than expected results – yet investors aren’t happy March 10, 2015 Weibo's user numbers soared last year and revenue went up, but many investors aren't getting the earnings per share they hoped for. The figures China's answer to Twitter had a good 2014 as far as earnings and user growth were concerned – revenue went up by 77 per cent to $334.2 (£222m), while daily active [...]
IGas share price jumps 20 per cent after Ineos deal March 10, 2015 Shares in IGas have jumped this morning, after the announcement of its £30m shale gas deal with Switzerland's Ineos, which will give the latter access to IGas shale sites in the north west and East Midlands regions of England. IGas, the UK's biggest shale gas explorer, saw its share price jump 23 per cent at 30 [...]
Grocery price war continues: Tesco’s rebound hurts Asda as Aldi reaches record market share March 10, 2015 Tesco's return to growth is stealing market share from Asda, according to the latest figures from Kantar Worldpanel. The sector as a whole is still hugely competitive: the grocery price war has driven supermarket deflation to a record level of 1.6 per cent for the 12 weeks to March 1. Kantar estimated that this had [...]
London Stock Exchange “1000 companies to inspire Britain” 2015: London leads competitors Greater Manchester and Essex March 10, 2015 Specialty beer firm BrewDog, challenger bank Metro Bank and high-street café Patisserie Valerie are all among the "1000 companies to inspire Britain" named by the London Stock Exchange. The report, supported by Lloyds Bank, the Business Growth Fund and Cenkos Securities, is in its second year. Most of the companies more than doubled their revenue in [...]
Aldermore share price jumps on its first day of trading March 10, 2015 Shares in Aldermore rose 10 per cent to 212p as its first day of conditional trading began on the London Stock Exchange this morning. The challenger bank priced its offering of 34.8 per cent of issued share capital at 192p per share, near the top of its 155p-195p range. The price gave it a market [...]
Prudential share price slides despite profit rise as Tidjane Thiam prepares move to Credit Suisse March 10, 2015 The numbers Prudential has reported a profit before tax of £2.6bn for 2014 – 60 per cent up from the previous year. Operating profit rose 14 per cent to £3.1bn. The company's full year dividend climbed by 10 per cent to 36p per share. The Pru's capital surplus is estimated to stand at £4.7bn. Why it's [...]