Philips buyback plan shrugged off by investors September 17, 2013 PHILIPS has raised most of its financial targets and announced plans to return €1.5bn (£1.26bn) to shareholders, saying it would reap the benefits of a two-year revamp to focus on healthcare, lighting and consumer appliances. Yet the Dutch group also warned, yesterday, of tough conditions in many of its markets and the new goals fell [...]
Schaeffler’s share sell-off sends Continental on a trip downhill September 17, 2013 GERMAN car parts maker Schaeffler Group has sold a 3.9 per cent stake in automotive supplier Continental AG for about €950m (£798m), taking advantage of a more than 20-year high in Continental’s share price to pay down debt. Schaeffler placed 7.8m shares with international investors at €122.50 apiece, a 3.5 per cent discount to Monday’s [...]
City Moves for 18 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 17, 2013 KPMG The professional services firm has announced the appointment of Sean Randall as head of its UK stamp taxes group. Randall spent the past eight years at Deloitte, where he specialised in stamp taxes. JP Morgan Private Bank Antoine Massoud has joined the private bank as a senior banker in its Middle East banking team. [...]
Best of the brokers for 18 September 2013 September 17, 2013 GLENCORE XSTRATA UBS has cut its rating on the commodities giant from “buy” to “neutral” and raised its target from 330p to 335p, as the shares have bounced back 32 per cent from the trough. The broker remains upbeat about Glencore’s cost-cutting plans until copper and coal prices improve. 888 HOLDINGS Numis has a “buy” [...]
London Report: FTSE drops from six week highs on Lloyds sale September 17, 2013 THE UK’S top share index fell off one and a half month highs yesterday, with Lloyds bank among the worst stocks, while traders held off adding to positions in fear of the US Federal Reserve reducing stimulus measures. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.8 per cent, or 52.69 points, at 6,570.17 points [...]
New York Report: Expectation of modest taper lifts US shares September 17, 2013 US STOCKS advanced yesterday on expectations the Federal Reserve will make only moderate changes to its stimulus that has been highly supportive of stocks and other assets at the conclusion of its two-day meeting tonight. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee began meeting yesterday to discuss whether to trim its bond purchases, also known as [...]
Mortgage rates could be on the rise September 17, 2013 With rising costs and house price highs spooking homebuyers, shop around for a good deal NEWS that house prices in England have hit record highs – now 0.9 per cent higher than their previous peak in January 2008 – has heightened fears that the government’s Help to Buy subsidised mortgage scheme is fuelling a housing [...]
How to invest in a new dawn for UK privatisation September 17, 2013 But Lloyds and Royal Mail may not match past successes, writes Liam Ward-Proud AN AUTUMN of privatisation is underway. This week, the government sold a 6 per cent stake in Lloyds to institutional investors, with plans to extend the sale to the public currently under consideration. At a price of 75p a share, the sale [...]
Apple stock rebounds as Chinese stocks of new iPhones sell out September 17, 2013 Apple's Chinese website shows all pre orders of their 5C and 5S devices have sold out (a translation of their Chinese site here), but there's still no word on what total pre orders are at. That's unusual from Apple. Typically, they'll announce pre order numbers shortly after they launch. Those pre orders begun shortly after [...]
Clegg announces free school meals for children in first three years of school September 17, 2013 Nick Clegg will tomorrow announce that all children in their first three years of education will receive free school meals, covering around 1.5m a year. Lib Dems believe that free meals provide an even greater academic boost than enforced literacy hours by enabling children who may not get enough food from home to concentrate during [...]