Grainger still selling properties February 8, 2012 Property investor Grainger said UK house prices had proved surprisingly resilient and that it continued to sell off properties as it cuts debt and braces for what CEO Andrew Cunningham believes will be an orderly breakup of the Eurozone. The 100 year old company said in a trading statement yesterday that gross rents rose 22 [...]
CVS Caremark raises its forecasts February 8, 2012 CVS Caremark has raised its full-year profit forecast as it wins over former patrons of Walgreen who fill prescriptions with pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. CVS also posted a fourth-quarter profit in line with analysts’ expectations, helped by better-than-expected revenue. CVS added three cents per share to its first-quarter and full-year adjusted earnings forecasts. It [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 8, 2012 Hogan Lovells Hogan Lovells has appointed Nicholas Cheffings as chairman, effective from 1 May 2012 for a three-year term. Cheffings will take over from current co-chairs Claudette Christian, who will continue with her practice, and John Young, who will retire on 30 April. Cheffings joined Lovells in 1999, becoming a member of the Lovells Partnership [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 8, 2012 BARCLAYS Citigroup released a note on UK banks yesterday, maintaining its overall overweight rating on the sector. The broker named Barclays its top pick in the sector, with a “buy” rating and an increase in its target price from 245p to 275p. In the same note, Citi maintained its “buy” rating on Lloyds, HSBC and [...]
Investors waiting for Greece put the brakes on FTSE rally February 8, 2012 BRITAIN’S blue chips closed a touch lower yesterday as investors awaited more clarity on a Greek debt deal. Greek party leaders gathered to agree reforms needed to secure a new EU/IMF rescue package necessary to avoid a chaotic default that would aggravate Europe’s financial crisis. Rating agency Standard & Poor’s added pressure on negotiations between [...]
Delays in Eurozone keep markets flat February 8, 2012 US stocks closed flat in another thinly traded session yesterday as Greece remained in a standstill over accepting tough reforms in exchange for a bailout critical to avoiding a chaotic default. Underlying confidence kept the Dow near an almost four-year high notched on Tuesday, though trading has been quiet since last week’s stellar employment report. [...]
Ever-increasing regulation is boosting compliance careers February 8, 2012 ADL PARTNERS FIVE years ago I was working on a compliance mandate for an investment bank. As well as compliance professionals, the client was open to seeing individuals from other professions, in this case legal. Yet to retain the interest of lawyers and stop them from terminating the conversation it was imperative not to mention [...]
JOBS of the WEEK February 8, 2012 Investment Analyst UK Private Equity Fund £55,000-£85,000 This is an opportunity to join an established UK mid-market private equity fund as an analyst within its investment team. The successful candidate will be involved in every aspect of new investments, including deal screening, financial modelling, and deal execution. The fund plays an active role in the [...]
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya… Is it time to intervene in Syria? February 8, 2012 YES MICHAEL WEISS THE question is not whether or not the West ought to intervene in Syria but when it will. For 11 months, President Assad’s regime has rejected all offers for substantive reform, while massacring upwards of 7,000 civilians, displacing tens of thousands more and running a network of arbitrary detention facilities rivalling Saddamist [...]
Bank accounts should become a rite of passage February 8, 2012 FINANCIAL education should be made a compulsory part of every school’s curriculum – that was the motion Justin Tomlinson MP put forward in Parliament just before Christmas. Tomlinson pointed out that debit card usage now exceeds cash usage. Yet about 19 per cent of parents have never discussed how to spend money with their teenagers [...]
