CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 20, 2009 Land SecuritiesThe property group has appointed Robert Noel, 45, as managing director of its London portfolio, effective from next January. Noel, who will also join the group’s board, has been property director at rival Great Portland Estates since 2002. He also currently holds positions as chairman of the Westminster Property Association and as a non-executive [...]
WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR ACTIVITY ON THE AIM MARKET? September 20, 2009 JUDITH MACKENZIE ACUITY CAPITALAim has fallen heavily and this is more of a bounce than a correction. However, I’m pessimistic on the prospects for Aim. There has been some cash coming into the market recently, but the macro environment is still negative and the smaller firms in particular will continue to struggle.CHILTON TAYLOR BAKER TILLYUltimately [...]
The world’s biggest hotelier won’t let the downturn stop expansion September 20, 2009 At 6’3”, the chief executive of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Andrew Cosslett has broad shoulders – and with the battering the travel sector has taken over the last year it is just as well. Not surprisingly, the economic downturn has hurt the world’s largest hotel group, which boasts 630,000 rooms across more than 4,300 hotels [...]
Sellers raise asking prices September 20, 2009 THE average asking price for a UK property rose 0.6 per cent in September on the previous month, trimming the annual decline to 1.5 per cent as a shortage of stock boosted sellers’ expectations. According to figures from property website Rightmove published today, sellers are now asking an average of £223,996 for their homes as [...]
Late payments threaten to bankrupt small companies September 20, 2009 CASH flow problems are becoming increasingly common among small businesses as clients fail to make payments on time in the downturn, a new survey has shown. Nearly a quarter of smaller firms polled by the Forum of Private Business (FPB) cited a decline in prompt payment as the single biggest problem facing them in the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 20, 2009 JD WETHERSPOONInvestec Securities has reiterated its buy recommendation for JD Wetherspoon, noting that potential obstacles should be overcome by the company’s strong cash generation and market share gains. The planned VAT increase is not expected to damage JD Wetherspoon, with price increases and accentuated value relative to peers predicted to compensate.ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLANDEvolution Securities [...]
THE LONDON REPORT September 20, 2009 ALL eyes are on authorities on both sides of the Atlantic this week, with minutes of the Bank of England’s latest rates meeting and a decision on US interest rates from the Federal Reserve, ahead of the crucial G20 summit in Pittsburgh on Friday. Imperial Tobacco’s pre-close update on Tuesday is expected to be upbeat, [...]
This is where we see if the galacticos are worth the cash September 20, 2009 WELL, the football season is now in full swing, with bloodshed, controversies over “simulation” and Sir Alex Ferguson laying into his rivals. It’s like it never went away, isn’t it? The big boys get into action this week with the start of the Champions League, and football fans will be eager to see if Real [...]
Platinum offers an alternative trade to gold and silver September 20, 2009 WITH gold’s sudden surge stealing both the headlines and the market’s attention, it is very easy to forget that there are markets in other precious metals. For spread betters looking to move beyond the realms of gold to something altogether rarer and more unique, platinum currently offers a wealth of opportunities. One of the scarcest [...]
FURTHER BAD NEWS TO PUSH BUCK LOWER September 20, 2009 JANE FOLEY RESEARCH DIRECTOR, FOREX.COMAYEAR after the fall of Lehman Brothers, the established rhetoric in the markets is that the shocks that unbalanced the finance system and the global economy have still not dispersed. However, the markets are saying otherwise. Shorting the US dollar has become de rigueur. The euro, Australian and New Zealand dollars [...]
