BEST OF THE BROKERS July 24, 2011 BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO Ahead of first-half results on 27 July, Citi rates the tobacco group as a “hold”, and lifts its target price from 2800p to 2890p. The broker also lifts its forecasts three per cent above consensus having upped its estimates for Asia to take into account a boost in the Japanese market, following [...]
CYCLISTS AND SUITS NEED NOT BE AT WAR WITH EACH OTHER July 24, 2011 TENSIONS between the City’s suits and its many cyclists – from couriers to tourists – have reached boiling point, The Capitalist hears. One disgruntled cyclist pulled over recently on Bishopsgate has been in touch to relay exactly why it is that City of London cops are out in force, lurking under trees and behind lamp-posts, [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK July 24, 2011 ACCOUNTANTS have a reputation for being somewhat straight-laced, but this tale suggests it isn’t entirely deserved. When two employees turned up for their first day at one of the City’s biggest accountancy firms, their new colleagues put them through an initiation ceremony that had more in common with the ways of an American university fraternity [...]
Osborne cuts Ireland’s bailout loan rate July 22, 2011 The UK government has agreed to cut the interest rate on Ireland’s bailout loan to help its government to repay, chancellor George Osborne has said. The move follows other eurozone leaders agreeing to lower all the interest rates on bailout-out countries Ireland, Greece and Portugal pay on their loans. The UK supplied £3.26bn to Ireland [...]
Hits and misses in US company results July 22, 2011 America’s biggest companies have delivered a mixed bag of earnings news, with a disappointing update by heavy equipment maker Caterpillar offset by forecast-beating news from GE, Schlumberger and McDonalds. Caterpillar, which updated the market after the bell last night, said its second-quarter profit was $1.02bn (£629m), 44 per cent higher than the same quarter in [...]
Norway rocked by twin terror attacks July 22, 2011 Norway has been shattered by two terror attacks just hours apart that saw Oslo rocked by a massive explosion, killing seven people, while a gunman opened fire at a children’s camp, killing four more. Norwegian police say the blast was caused by a bomb and have urged people to leave the centre of the city, [...]
Fitch rates Greece as default but praises rescue deal July 22, 2011 Rating agency Fitch has billed the eurozone’s rescue plan for Greece as a temporary selective default and warned that other bailed-out states could end up needing the same. Markets welcomed the second international bailout deal for heavily-indebted Greece yesterday, which agreed to provide another €109bn (£96bn) of funding. It also brought in formal private sector [...]
Verizon tops forecasts July 22, 2011 Verizon Communications’s second-quarter profit topped Wall Street estimates as it added more subscribers than expected in its first full quarter selling the Apple iPhone. Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon and Vodafone Group, added 1.3 million net subscribers in the quarter compared with the average expectation for about 930,000, according to seven analysts contacted by Reuters. [...]
Macmillan hit with £11m fraud fine July 22, 2011 Publishing group Macmillan has been fined more than £11m by the Serious Fraud Office after admitting trying to bribe World Bank officials to win a contract in Sudan. The SFO imposed the £11.3m fine under the 2002 Proceeds of Crime Act, saying MacMillan’s educational division in the region had won tenders by paying bribes and [...]
EasyJet soars after sky-high profit forecast July 22, 2011 Shares in budget airline EasyJet have soared 14 per cent as it said it expected to make up to £230m profit for the year. EasyJet said its revenues were up more than 23 per cent in the past three months compared with a year ago, to £935m, as 20 per cent more passengers travelled for [...]