Best of the Brokers for 12 November 2015 November 12, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Canaccord Genuity reiterated its “buy” rating on the insurance firm, but increased the target price from 800p to 910p. The broker noted reports that Novae is set to launche a new special purpose syndicate to underwrite US excess and surplus lines property and [...]
FTSE closes up despite losses from Sainsbury – London Report November 12, 2015 FALLS in supermarket, miner and housebuilders’ shares yesterday did not prevent the FTSE 100 rising marginally. The UK’s blue-chip index rose 0.35 per cent to 6,297 points. The largest casualty, by some way, was Sainsbury, which reported profits had slumped 18 per cent and slashed its interim dividend by a third. Sainsbury’s group sales were down [...]
New Policy Exchange report: Tweaking Whitehall HR system could save taxpayer £1bn November 12, 2015 Cutting government spending on contractors by just 20 per cent could save the taxpayer over £1bn, according to a new report out today from a Westminster think tank. The report from Policy Exchange says that the amount of money government departments spend on external contractors has risen significantly in recent years, from £610m in 2011/2012 [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron calls two-day visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi an “historic opportunity” November 12, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron has called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to the UK today an “historic opportunity” for the relationship between Britain and India, signalling billions of pounds of deals and other financial partnerships. Modi is in Britain for a two-day visit which will today include one-on-one talks with Cameron at [...]
Macy’s and oil weigh heavily on Wall Street – New York Report November 11, 2015 INVESTORS sold oil companies and dumped brick-and-mortar retailers yesterday after a disappointing full-year forecast from Macy’s pulling US stocks lower. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 56.52 points, or 0.32 per cent, to 17,701.69, the S&P 500 lost 6.77 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 2,074.95 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 16.22 points, or 0.32 [...]
City Moves for 12 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 11, 2015 Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Michael Bond has been appointed mid markets relationship director in the bank’s technology, media and telecommunications team in London. He previously held a similar role at Lloyds, looking after clients in the education, communities and government sector across the South East. State Street Global Advisors State Street’s asset management arm has [...]
Law Society recommends minimum salary for trainee solicitors based on combination of living wage and training course fees November 11, 2015 The Law Society has today recommended those hiring solicitors on a training contract should pay a minimum salary of £20,276 in London and £18,183 outside of London. The representative body for legal eagles based their calculation on a combination of the living wage, set by the Living Wage foundation at £9.40 per hour in London [...]
Eurostar travel disruption after London to Paris ES9050 train collides with boar on the line in France November 11, 2015 Eurostar is sending a rescue train to move the ES9050 London to Paris train, which was stopped when it hit a boar earlier this evening, to Lille. The company will provide an empty train at Lille so that the journey to Paris can be completed. The company said earlier that it was able to re-open one of its [...]
Eurozone asset purchases could be ramped up in December, says European Central Bank’s Benoit Coeure November 11, 2015 A European Central Bank (ECB) official has hinted that the central bank could ramp up its €1.1 trillion (£780bn) asset purchase programme as soon as December. “The debate is open” due to the fact that inflation expectations are still weak, Benoit Coeure told Le Figaro in an interview due to be published tomorrow. A major issue [...]
Trust issues: Why suspicion is beneficial for businesses November 11, 2015 It is often said that trust is the key to success in business. That customer loyalty leads to repeat sales, and that internal suspicions can stifle a team’s productivity, is widely accepted. But recent research in the journal Group Decision and Negotiation suggests that an atmosphere of distrust within working groups can actually boost [...]