London Report: Weak earnings reports fuel drop in FTSE shares August 20, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index edged lower yesterday as gloomy earnings reports fuelled profit-taking on some basic material and energy stocks and investors cut positions in expectation of less US monetary stimulus. Shares in miners BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata fell 1.7 per cent and 1.6 per cent respectively as the former announced a lower-than-expected profit [...]
New York Report: Wall Street rebounds as strong figures boost retailers’ stocks August 20, 2013 THE S&P 500 bounced yesterday to end a four-day losing skid, as earnings from Best Buy and TJX Cos helped buoy retailers and consumer discretionary stocks. TJX Cos was the top boost to the S&P 500 after the owner of the discount T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains reported better-than-expected quarterly sales, bucking a trend of [...]
Any Other Business – 21/08 August 20, 2013 ■ With the annual Edinburgh comedy festival now in full swing, what better for City delegates than a little political light relief in the form of Confessions of Gordon Brown, a satirical monologue about the former Prime Minister – played by Ian Grieve (pictured). The Capitalist hears that at least one of Brown’s former cabinet [...]
Euro investors must remain cautious August 20, 2013 But the region could offer good returns THE CASE for investing in the Eurozone appears to be getting stronger. Many analysts still warn that the region is not out of the woods just yet, but some aspects of the macro-economic picture – the second quarter GDP release for the region showed growth (of 0.3 per [...]
The funds that may ride the Eurozone’s recovery August 20, 2013 EVER since Mario Draghi promised to do “whatever it takes” to save the Eurozone, investor sentiment towards the region has improved slightly. With growth returning in some countries, albeit at a modest 0.3 per cent overall in the second quarter, and the MSCI Europe (excluding the UK) index rising from around 1,600 to over 1,770 since [...]
London estate agent Foxtons investigates potential compromise of 10,000 user accounts August 20, 2013 London estate agent Foxtons is looking into whether hackers were able to access the account details of more than 9,800 property searchers registered with the site. A list of email addresses, usernames and passwords of alleged MyFoxtons users was posted on Pastebin and linked to several security sites but has since been removed, although some [...]
Former M&S merchandising head to return to the high street after Asos fiasco August 20, 2013 Kate Bostock, former fashion head at Marks & Spencer, is returning to the high street next month as chief executive of privately-owned occasion wear retailer Coast, following an ill-fated and short-lived stint as executive director at online retailer Asos. The retailer confirmed the news to City A.M. on Tuesday afternoon. Bostock's appointment to head up [...]
Gherkin owner asks courts to oversee £2.7bn debt restructuring August 20, 2013 The German real estate company that co-owns the Gherkin building has said it is seeking protection from creditors after failing to reach an agreement to restructure its debt. IVG will apply for a Schutzschirmverfahren, whereby the courts will oversee the restructuring of its €3.2bn (£2.7bn) of debt. IVG owns around €5bn of office buildings in [...]
200 bankers fail ethics test August 20, 2013 An ethics test for young bankers by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has had a 98 per cent pass rate since its relaunch in April, the professional body has said. But this means that 200 of the 10,000 taking the test failed to achieve the A or B grade required to take [...]
IoD warns Labour that without zero-hour contracts job creation will suffer August 20, 2013 As Labour MP Chuku Umunna holds a summit on zero-hour contracts today, business group the Institute of Directors (IoD) has slammed claims that those on these flexible jobs early £6 less per hour than other workers. Alexander Ehmann, head of employment policy at the IoD, says: Claims that employees without guaranteed hours are paid less [...]