Swatch chair aims for double digit sales growth this year March 11, 2012 THE chair of watchmaker Swatch said yesterday she hopes to see double-digit sales growth this year. “We have become used to recording double-digit growth rates so that eventually single-digit growth figures are almost seen as negative,” Nayla Hayek told the Blick am Sonntag newspaper in an interview. “But if everything goes well — all indications [...]
JP Morgan China pins hopes on a recovery in company listings March 11, 2012 TWICE as many firms in China are eager to list on the stock market now compared to a year ago as rising Asian share prices rebuild confidence among businesses, the head of JP Morgan’s arm in the country said at the weekend. Fang Fang, chief executive for JP Morgan China, said firms were mulling fund-raising [...]
Gulf property giants size up merger deal March 11, 2012 ABU Dhabi’s struggling developer Aldar Properties may merge with local rival Sorouh Real Estate in a state-backed tie-up that could create a company worth $15bn (£9.6bn) in assets. A decision on the merger of the top two developers in the emirate will be made within three months after a joint committee assesses the matter, the [...]
UAE economy doubles pace of growth March 11, 2012 THE United Arab Emirates’ economy grew an estimated 3.3 per cent in 2011, the economy minister was quoted as saying yesterday, slower than analysts had expected but still more than double the pace seen in the previous year. Economy minister Sultan bin Saeed al-Mansouri said the UAE had faced unprecedented regional and global challenges last [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 11, 2012 O2 The mobile telecoms giant has appointed Martin Harriman as the new head of its business development division. Harriman is joining from LightSquared, where he has been executive vice president since 2009. He has held senior positions at Ericsson in Sweden, and was chief commercial director and a founding member of Augere. Harrison will replace [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 11, 2012 JD WETHERSPOON N+1 Brewin has cut its rating of the pub chain from “hold” to “reduce” with a lowered target price of 375p, down from 443p, in reaction to what it calls “a mild profit warning” in the firm’s results on Friday. The broker has also pared back its forecasts for new openings of Wetherspoon [...]
US announcements will top and tail the week March 11, 2012 TODAY With no major economic or corporate announcements in the UK, one would assume that trading will be fairly quiet. But the market has plenty to digest from the tail end of the previous week. Non-farm payroll and unemployment numbers are likely to dictate trading activity across most asset classes for a couple of days. [...]
The unfolding story of London’s iconic bicycle March 11, 2012 ANDREW Ritchie, founder and technical director of Brompton Bicycle brought his folding bike to market through perseverance and a little help from his friends. Talking with him in the company’s factory in Brentford, where every Brompton bike is made, it is instantly clear that he realises that success, and the accolades that followed, weren’t a [...]
GENERATING A BUSINESS OUT OF GOOD IDEAS March 11, 2012 PEOPLE have brilliant ideas every day. That eureka moment that makes you stop and think, if I could invent a solution to this problem, I would make millions. But where do you go from there? Unsurprisingly, most people grind to a halt once they have had that all important light bulb moment and do not [...]
UK manufacturing does not need favours – but it deserves a better press March 11, 2012 BRITAIN’S greatness was built upon the brains and brawn of our industrial revolution. Excepting sporadic flourishes of genius, we hit our stride when great minds turned their energies to the tasks of extracting, designing, building and moving the world’s wants. Machines replaced the labour of men, so those born poor could work their family out [...]
