BEST OF THE BROKERS August 5, 2009 NATIONAL EXPRESSInvestec has retained its “buy” recommendation for National Express. It says that a month of high drama including takeover approaches and a profits warning has left the company fighting for its future. But the broker still believes that despite a likely break-up, the group is trading in line with its peers and therefore risks [...]
M&A deals fall by 50 per cent August 5, 2009 Private equity and trade M&A activity declined for the sixth successive quarter with less than half the number of deals being completed in Q2 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to new research from accountants and business advisers BDO Stoy Hayward. But BDO’s indices have found that despite the fall in activity, [...]
Holiday Inns relaunched August 5, 2009 IHG will announce today that almost 25 per cent of Holiday Inn hotels in the UK – a total of 50 – have now been relaunched. Kew Green Hotels, one of IHG’s biggest hotel owners in the UK, relaunched all 15 of their Holiday Inns this month alone and is the first owner outside of [...]
Serie A joins ESPN line up August 5, 2009 ESPN yesterday announced it has secured an exclusive deal sto broadcast up to three live Serie A matches per week for the 2009/10 season. Featuring some of the world’s greatest players, including recent Inter Milan signing Samuel Eto’o Serie A is one of the most popular leagues in the world.
BA passenger figures show improvement August 5, 2009 BELEAGUERED British Airways (BA) said yesterday it carried one per cent more passengers in July than in the same period a year before, and added that further gains were expected over the rest of the summer. The news comes after the airline reported its first ever first quarter loss last week, and said it saw [...]
UBS tax deal due tomorrow August 5, 2009 THE US and Switzerland are expected to reach a final settlement tomorrow to end a tax row against UBS, but details of the deal will not be made public the same day, sources familiar with the situation said. US tax authorities have sued UBS as the bank refused to hand over the names of 52,000 [...]
Topps on track in spite of continuing sales plunge August 5, 2009 TILE and wood flooring group Topps Tiles said yesterday it is on track to meet full-year expectations, despite sales continuing to plunge over the past four months. Topps, which has reduced its total number of stores by five per cent since the start of the financial year, said revenue for the 18 weeks to 1 [...]
Revenues in healthy way at Betfair August 5, 2009 ONLINE betting company Betfair yesterday reported revenue growth of 27 per cent in the year to 30 April, and played down reports that it is planning to raise cash through an initial public offering (IPO). Just a day after rival William Hill issued a profit warning, Betfair posted revenues of £303m, driven by international expansion [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 5, 2009 ExecutionExecution has taken on Joseph Dickerson to strengthen its banking equity research team. Joseph will be responsible for developing coverage on HSBC, Standard Chartered and the Spanish banking sector. He joins Execution from Citadel Investment group where he was a senior analyst. He will work with Fiona Swaffield and Anke Reigen in the company’s experienced [...]
Barclays bracing itself for protests August 5, 2009 BARCLAYS’ staff are set to stage a protest over pensions outside the bank’s annual meeting today. Barclays chief executive John Varley has argued that the bank’s pension fund deficit is worsening and curtailing its final salary pension scheme is best for present and future staff, and its pensioners. But the Unite union, which represents more [...]
