Three cheers for the stars of the Square Mile October 28, 2010 LAST night was truly an exciting and exceptional occasion: City A.M.’s inaugural awards celebrating the best and brightest of London’s business, financial and investment communities. Our inaugural awards ceremony saw more than 450 guests in their finery roll up at the Grange Hotel at St Pauls. Our winners, unique in that each was initially chosen [...]
Autonomy bounces back with robust set of results October 19, 2010 AUTONOMY staged a partial recovery yesterday after its disastrous profit warning earlier this month – which sent its shares falling 17 per cent – an update it now describes as “conservative”. The software giant, which enables searches of information including emails, phone conversations, documents and video, posted third quarter pre-tax profit of $86.3m (£55m), a [...]
DO-GOODING HEDGE FUND AUTHORS STRIP MEAT OFF MERVYN’S BONES October 14, 2010 FOLLOWING on from The Capitalist’s coverage of the launch of The Gathering Storm – a compilation of essays by hedgies, with all proceeds going to charities chosen by the writers – the book’s august authors gathered yesterday for cucumber sandwiches and wine at the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation. As the discussion galloped [...]
Autonomy shares rocked by cut in profits forecast October 6, 2010 software firm Autonomy said it would cut its full-year revenue guidance by about three per cent after weaker-than-expected demand, sending its stock sharply lower. Shares in the group, whose meaning-based search software is used by multinationals and governments, plunged as much as 21 per cent to an eight-month low of 1,464p, the largest FTSE 100 [...]
BoA Merrill to rejig European finance team September 14, 2010 BANK of America Merrill Lynch yesterday unveiled changes in its team covering Europe’s financial firms, following similar announcements from two other banks ahead of an expected increase in equity raisings and deals. Bank of America Merrill Lynch hired four financial institutions group (FIG) bankers and said it was rejigging its Europe, Middle East and Africa [...]
THE ART OF PEACEFUL PROTEST (IN SWINDON) September 1, 2010 IN an age where Facebook protests can reach hundreds of thousands of members within a few hours, often for the most spurious reasons – the lynching of women who put cats in bins being a recent example – it’s nice to see a good old fashioned show of dissent. One-man-army Paul Slennett, owner of three [...]
Autonomy sees revenues rise 7pc as market picks up July 22, 2010 BRITISH software firm Autonomy posted a seven per cent rise in earnings in the second quarter, after seeing a “gentle” improvement in the market, giving it confidence about the year ahead. Chief Executive Mike Lynch said that the group’s customers, which include multinationals and governments, were positive but still cautious. “Overall we face the rest [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 24, 2010 Matrix Group Matrix Group has expanded its investment banking business after appointing Paul James as chief operating officer (COO) of the investment banking arm. James moves into the role with immediate effect and joins after 20 years experience in investment banking. He was most recently COO of global banking and markets HSBC and has previously [...]
Autonomy revenues rise 50 per cent April 21, 2010 AUTONOMY reported a sharp rise in profits and earnings yesterday bolstering investor hopes that the worst of the downturn is behind it. The software firm announced revenue of $194.2m (£126m), up 50 per cent year-on-year, and adjusted net profit of $61.7m, up 44 per cent from $40.2m the year before. The results were slightly above [...]
Bridgepoint snaps up health and social care firm Care UK for £281m in cash March 3, 2010 PRIVATE equity group Bridgepoint Capital yesterday unveiled a recommended cash bid for elderly and health care provider Care UK, valuing the company at £281m. Bridgepoint, which launched the bid through newly-created vehicle Warwick Bidco, is offering 450p for each Care UK share, a 9.2 per cent premium to the share price at the close of [...]