Bottom Line: Market perils revealed even as the long mobile boom goes on December 11, 2013 IS THE smartphone boom tailing off? Imagination Technologies’ acknowledgement of lower (but still strong) growth rates in the smartphone market might seem worrying. Mobiles and tablets have seen exponential growth since 2009. Surely that can’t go on forever? We’re not done yet. More than 200m tablets will be sold this year. Smartphones will treble between [...]
Harlow joins Debenhams board December 11, 2013 Debenhams group trading director Suzanne Harlow was promoted to the board yesterday, becoming the department store group’s first female board-level executive director. Harlow has been with the company since 1994 and group trading director since 2008. The retailer currently has two female non-executive directors – BSkyB managing director Sophie Turner Laing and former Capital Radio [...]
PZ Cussons tanned by St Tropez December 11, 2013 PZ Cussons said more customers had taken a shine to its St Tropez tanning products thanks to its advertisements featuring Kate Moss, boosting sales in the first half. The company behind Imperial Leather soaps said revenue and operating profit were four per cent and six per cent higher respectively in the six months to 30 [...]
Ferrovial’s Amey wins contracts December 11, 2013 Spanish infrastructure group Ferrovial said yesterday that its British subsidiary had won extensions to two contracts to maintain sewer pipes and provide other water services, in deals worth £415m. Amey will help to maintain sewer pipes and clean water infrastructure for United Utilities from 2015 to 2020, in a contract worth £225m. Ferrovial also won [...]
City Moves for 12 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 11, 2013 Orchard Street The commercial property investment manager has hired Philip Gadsden as managing partner. He was formerly international director at LaSalle Investment Management, and deputy chief executive at Invista Real Estate Investment Management. Allen & Overy The law firm has appointed Stephen Lloyd as a private equity partner in its London corporate group. He was previously [...]
Best of the Brokers for 12 December 2013 December 11, 2013 BREWIN DOLPHIN N+1 Singer reiterates its ‘buy’ rating on Brewin Dolphin saying its final results last week exceeded its forecasts. Highlights improvement in operating margin, and says the results provided clarity on progress and direction. UNITED BUSINESS MEDIA Deutsche Bank upgrades UBM to ‘buy’ and raises its target price to 830p from 750p. It believes [...]
London Report: FTSE sheds points as taper fears return to haunt investors December 11, 2013 THE UK’S top share index ended slightly lower yesterday with a provisional budget deal in Washington raising concerns of a reduction in US stimulus as early as next week. The agreement, reached late on Tuesday, would end three years of impasse and fiscal instability in Washington that culminated in October with a partial government shutdown. [...]
New York Report: Wall St slides on Fed fears December 11, 2013 US stocks posted their largest drop in a month yesterday as traders locked in recent gains after a provisional budget deal out of Washington removed one of the near-term reasons for the Fed to keep up its current pace of economic stimulus. The bipartisan budget agreement reached late Tuesday would end three years of political [...]
Geek Speak: Hands-on review: the Xbox One December 11, 2013 Microsoft’s new console is under fire from Sony’s PS4 – we put it through its paces XBOX ONE Microsoft | £429.99 Four Stars THE console wars are well and truly underway, with all three big players – Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo – having released their next-generation machines. Here is the lowdown on Microsoft’s latest device. [...]
Our pick of the launch-day titles December 11, 2013 Forza 5 The sixth title in the Forza Motorsport franchise has been released exclusively for Xbox One. It uses the new graphics engine to create a highly-realistic driving experience. Forza 4’s world tour tracks are replaced with levels divided into categories such as compact sports cars and track toys. Dead Rising 3 Dead Rising is [...]