CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 15, 2012 Irwin Mitchell The UK solicitor firm has appointed Denny Payton as partner in its motor team. Payton has been a solicitor for over nineteen years and has extensive experience working for major insurers, corporate fleets and brokers. Her focus is on delivering outsourcing services to international clients. DLA Piper Prakash Paran has joined the law [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 15, 2012 BURBERRY UBS rates the fashion brand “neutral” with a target price of £15.80. The broker expects constant currency sales growth of 16.5 per cent for the quarter when the firm reports tomorrow, down from 23.7 per cent in the rest of the financial year thanks to tougher comparatives. DEBENHAMS Deutsche Bank has a “hold” rating [...]
Wells Fargo profit rises April 13, 2012 Wells Fargo & Co reported higher first-quarter profits on Friday as the bank posted strong mortgage banking results and set aside less money for bad loans. Wells Fargo, the nation’s fourth-biggest US bank, said net income was $4.25bn, or 75 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with $3.76bn, or 67 cents, a share in [...]
JP Morgan profit drops but beats forecasts April 13, 2012 JPMorgan Chase & Co’s first-quarter profit fell three per cent as recent recoveries in trading and deal-making failed to lift investment banking revenue to earlier levels. But results still beat Wall Street expectations. The biggest US bank by assets said on Friday that net income was $5.4bn (£3.3bn), or $1.31 a share, compared with $5.6bn [...]
VW sales drive forward April 13, 2012 Volkswagen, Europe’s biggest automaker, said group sales posted record gains in the first quarter thanks to increased demand from North America, Russia, and China. Total sales in March rose 12.5 per cent to a record 862,700. Sales of brands including luxury division Audi and Czech mass market manufacturer Skoda increased 9.6 per cent in the [...]
Daisy to buy Wordlwide for £28m April 13, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading as investors digested data showing a slowdown of growth in China’s economy. Official figures released overnight showed that China’s economy grew at its slowest rate in almost three years. Gross domestic product increased by a rate of 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8.9 [...]
FTSE down as China growth slows April 13, 2012 The FTSE 100 edged down in early trading as investors digested data showing a slowdown of growth in China’s economy. Official figures released overnight showed that China’s economy grew at its slowest rate in almost three years. Gross domestic product increased by a rate of 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, down from 8.9 [...]
Factory gate inflation eases April 13, 2012 Factory gate inflation eased to a two-year low in March, official data showed on Friday, supporting hopes that price pressures are falling back as the Bank of England predicts. However, output and input price inflation slowed less than analysts had forecast, highlighting the risks to the central bank’s prediction that consumer price inflation will fall [...]
Paperwork on Glencore deal for Xstrata is delayed April 13, 2012 Documentation relating to commodities trader Glencore’s agreed $37bn bid for miner Xstrata will be sent to shareholders later than p previously anticipated, the companies said in a statement. Paperwork relating to the merger is now anticipated to be distributed to each company’s shareholders by the end of May 2012 instead of in April as originally [...]
John Lewis reports “stunning” Easter week April 13, 2012 Britain’s biggest department store chain John Lewis said it enjoyed a “stunning” week’s trade in the seven days to Easter Saturday as poor weather made shopping an attractive pursuit. The employee-owned retailer said on Friday its sales jumped 27.5 per cent year-on-year to £66.7m in the week to 7 April. “In comparison with the Good [...]