SWATCH CATCHES LUXURY MARKET BOOM February 7, 2012 STRONG demand for expensive watches in China helped Swatch Group clock up an 18 per cent rise in 2011 profits and build some sales momentum for the current year. Net profit at the Swiss-based group, known better for its colourful plastic watches than for ownership of high-end brands such as Omega and Breguet, rose 18.1 [...]
What do you think of the government’s plans to reform the UK’s National Health System? February 7, 2012 AS health secretary Andrew Lansley’s controversial plans to reform the NHS return to the House of Lords, we’re asking our Voice of the City panellist what they make of the government’s proposals to overhaul Britain’s health services. The bill has received widespread opposition from doctors, nurses and other health workers, but Lansley insists he has [...]
Lagardere in €900m writedown February 7, 2012 France’s Lagardere said it will take a writedown of €900m on the value of its problem-plagued sports business and its stake in pay-TV unit Canal+ as it reported stagnant revenue for 2011. The media-to-aerospace conglomerate reported full-year revenue of €7.66bn in line with analysts estimates yesterday and confirmed its forecast of core media operating profit [...]
Low & Bonar results impress February 7, 2012 Shares in Low & Bonar jump as much as 12 per cent to touch a four-month high yesterday, after the supplier of yarn, fabric, and fibre reported better-than-expected full year pre-tax profit, boosted by new product sales and a higher contribution from emerging markets. Revenues at the group rose 13 per cent year-on-year to £388.7m, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 7, 2012 Qatar Financial Centre Authority Bob Wigley, chairman of Yell Group and former chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, Middle East and Africa, has been appointed as a non-executive director of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. In the new role, Wigley, who was appointed as an ambassador for UK business by David Cameron in 2011, will promote [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 7, 2012 HALFORDS Panmure Gordon has upgraded the car and bicycle parts retailer from “hold” to “buy” and raised its target price to 375p from 300p, despite downgrading its pre-tax profit forecasts by eight and 10 per cent respectively for the next two years. The upgrade is made on the basis that the broker expects Halfords to [...]
The Eurozone is almost out of options – taxpayers must prepare to take their losses February 7, 2012 OVER the last few weeks, negotiations over a potential write-down of Greece’s debt have taken us here and there, and back again – and at the time of writing, they remain unresolved. But whatever the outcome of the talks between the Greek government and its creditors, let’s not forget the bigger picture – ultimately, the [...]
The EU’s war on planes leaves UK trade grounded February 7, 2012 WE ARE witnessing the opening skirmishes of a trade war between the EU and the rest of the world. This is unnecessary, costly for the European economy, and self-defeating. How did we get here? Under European law, an airline (wherever based) which operates flights that take off or land in the EU must, from next [...]
More laws won’t make markets more efficient February 7, 2012 THE “clean government” bill bans American politicians from using their inside information for personal profit, for example, by trading securities. It passed the Senate last week by a vote of 96 to 3. Which is a pity. Prohibitions on insider trading should not be extended; they should be repealed, not only in America but everywhere. [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 7, 2012 Fair play on funds Regarding the True & Fair campaign [Join our campaign to fight fund managers’ high fees and lack of transparency, last Wednesday]. I’m all in favour of lower fees and more disclosure on costs. When choosing pension funds at the moment investors are told how much future income would be provided under [...]
