Punch sees sales rise as demerger takes shape June 8, 2011 Pub landlord Punch Taverns has seen food and drink sales rise more than seven per cent in its Spirit division of managed venues in the past quarter. In a bullish trading update, the branded pub and restaurant manager said sunny weather helped like-for-like food sales grow 8.4 per cent while drink sales rose 7.3 per [...]
Moody’s raises flag over global pharma June 8, 2011 Credit rating agency Moody’s has warned it sees a negative outlook for global pharmaceuticals, despite conceding the industry remains “solidly profitable”. Moody’s believes industry revenues are threatened by a raft of patents due to expire on drug developers’ blockbuster products later this year or next year, while their pipelines of new drugs are weak. “Moody’s [...]
OPEC divided as Saudi pushes for oil increase June 8, 2011 Saudi Arabia is facing stiff resistance from fellow OPEC producers opposed to an increase in oil supplies that help ease crude prices. Under pressure from consumer countries to contain fuel inflation, Saudi Arabia hopes to push the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to lift its production target by 1.5m barrels a day at a meeting [...]
Deutsche Boerse and NYSE offer special dividend June 8, 2011 Stock exchange merger partners Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext unveiled a special dividend yesterday to woo shareholders a month before they must vote on combining the two markets. The exchanges offered shareholders of the combined company a one-off dividend of €2 (£1.78) after the deal closes – a total payout of €620m. The sweetener is [...]
New Look profit slumps 40pc after prices rise June 8, 2011 Fashion retailer New Look has admitted its performance over the past year was “disappointing” as it reported a 40 per cent slump in profits. The privately-owned retailer said group like for like sales fell 5.5 per cent over the year – and 7.1 per cent in the UK – after price rises for its budget [...]
CITY AT WAR June 7, 2011 Advisers blame each other for seizure of IPO market FEUDING has broken out between all the key players within the City of London’s crucial fundraising business, in a development that threatens to devastate confidence in London’s faltering flotations market. Key advisers, investors and bookrunners are at loggerheads and briefing against each other, in the worst breakdown [...]
Big banks accused of talking down values June 7, 2011 STJ Advisors, the St James’s Place-based firm, is accusing the big banks that run the flotation process of charging high fees and of “distorting investor feedback” in order to get companies to lower their valuation, according to a sales document seen by City A.M. The document claims that “banks are conflicted” in the IPO process. [...]
Why all sides need to stop and relax June 7, 2011 IT is time for the City to get its act together: it is in danger of ceasing to function as a proper, efficient platform for raising money for firms seeking to go public, an untenable situation. As our special investigation on pages 1-4 of today’s newspaper demonstrates, the market for corporate floats has almost ground [...]
London IPO market is close to seizure June 7, 2011 GLENCORE recently pulled off a $11bn flotation, London’s largest ever, but the past few months have otherwise been pretty desultory in terms of new companies coming to market. Some blame last year’s flotation of Ocado, the online grocer, for starting the rot. Ocado’s share price has recovered well from its early post-IPO malaise but bankers [...]
The media-shy mastermind behind an aggressive boutique operation June 7, 2011 STJ Advisors operates as a partnership led by John St John, a capital markets banker who has spent 25 years at various investment banks in the capital-raising business. He co-founded the firm, which was originally known as Fredericks Place Advisors, in 2008, after a career that included stints at Nomura, Citi/Salomon Smith Barney and Dresdner [...]