Tesco recovery fails to ignite growth in sales June 11, 2012 TESCO reported its fourth consecutive quarter of falling sales yesterday as the grocer’s £1bn recovery plan following its shock profit warning in January struggled to gain pace. Britain’s largest retailer said UK like-for-like sales excluding VAT and fuel fell 1.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 May, only slightly up on a 1.6 [...]
Banking trade body to name new chief exec June 11, 2012 THE BRITISH Bankers’ Association (BBA) is expected this morning to announce that Anthony Browne, former aide to London Mayor Boris Johnson, will be its new chief executive. Browne, who until recently wrote a weekly column in City A.M., will take over the post from outgoing head Angela Knight. This year he has helped Morgan Stanley with its [...]
A domestic airline feels the pinch thanks to the chancellor’s double dipping Air Passenger Duty June 11, 2012 THE UK’s largest regional airline Flybe used its distinctly earthbound results to attack George Osborne yesterday, counting “illogical hikes in stealth taxation” among the causes of its £6.2m pre-tax loss. While Osborne got deservedly upbraided this weekend when he tried to make the Eurozone crisis an excuse for the UK’s stuttering recovery, Flybe has a [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | DO TESCO’S RESULTS SUGGEST A FINANCIAL TURNING POINT? June 11, 2012 CLIVE BLACK SHORE CAPITAL We see this as a steady statement suggesting stabilisation is coming through in the UK, which we find encouraging after sustained underperformance. For the “uber bears” there is no warning, which is an important foundation to the rebuilding of Tesco’s investment credentials. FREDDIE GEORGE SEYMOUR PIERCE We continue to believe that [...]
Brown denies he threatened war on Murdoch June 11, 2012 GORDON Brown vehemently denied to the Leveson inquiry yesterday that he had threatened to make war on Rupert Murdoch after The Sun switched its support to the Conservative Party in 2009. “This conversation never took place… I am shocked and surprised that it should be suggested,” the former Labour Prime Minister said under oath. This [...]
Financial Services Bill attacked for reliance on Bank of England June 11, 2012 LABOUR peers yesterday called the Financial Services Bill a “dog’s breakfast” that fails the four tests of “accountability, clarity, efficiency and transparency”. The legislation, which will revamp the existing regulatory system and hand new powers to the Bank of England, was receiving its second reading in the House of Lords. Opposition spokesman Lord Eatwell said that [...]
Banks still angry over Vickers despite small firms concession June 11, 2012 GEORGE Osborne is expected to give ground over regulation of certain areas of small business banking this week, but banks are still angry about his plans for a so-called depositor preference. The chancellor is set to indicate a willingness to allow banks to offer some simpler hedging tools within their ring-fenced retail arms, when he [...]
Montagu wraps up deal to sell bandage firm June 11, 2012 THE GLOOM around private equity was lifted yesterday when London buyout firm Montagu closed the auction of German bandages firm BSN Medical with a sale for around €1.8bn (£1.45bn). Sweden’s EQT has agreed to buy the €665m turnover firm in one of Europe’s largest deals this year. BSN had attracted interest from personal care group [...]
Paradigm shift as Apax leads $1bn deal for oil tech business June 11, 2012 PRIVATE equity house Apax Partners has taken a bet on the continuing global thirst for oil exploration in leading a deal worth around $1bn (£643m) for Paradigm. Apax and JMI Equity have agreed to buy the software group, which sells its technology to oil and gas explorers and producers, from US investment group Fox Paine. Paradigm, which has [...]
Assets boost for key GLG fund provides a ray of light for Man June 11, 2012 HEDGE fund manager Man Group said assets at a key European fund have reached $565m (£364m). Its GLG Europe Plus Source exchange-traded fund was launched in January last year to track the Man GLG Europe Plus Index, created by Man Systematic Strategies. The index is a long-only total return equity index, designed to capture outperformance from [...]
