City institutions split over Astra bid rejection as pressure mounts May 20, 2014 HEAVYWEIGHT City stockpickers were split last night over the impending collapse of Astrazeneca’s takeover, with FTSE 100 giant Schroders and the UK’s best known manager Neil Woodford divided over the deal. Woodford, one of Astrazeneca’s most influential shareholders, said he believed the business would prosper without a takeover by US drug firm Pfizer. He backed [...]
Coroner rules death of JP Morgan exec Gabriel Magee was suicide May 20, 2014 A CORONER has ruled that the death of JP Morgan IT executive Gabriel Magee was suicide. US-born Magee jumped from the 32nd floor of the company’s Canary Wharf offices and was discovered at 8am on 28 January on a protruding roof on the ninth floor of the building. Coroner Mary Hassel said she was satisfied [...]
Russia and China fail to agree on gas deal May 20, 2014 Russia and China have failed once again to reach a deal on gas supply between the two nations, in talks that have been going on for over 10 years. Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping yesterday met and a bilateral agreement was signed, but it did not include crucial clauses agreeing a price for gas, [...]
M&S warns new website will hit clothing sales May 20, 2014 MARKS & Spencer warned yesterday that the launch of its new website will deliver a further blow to its already fragile general merchandise sales, as the high street retailer reported a third year of falling profits. Chief executive Marc Bolland admitted the website “will take four to six months to be at full strength” as [...]
Bottom Line: Bolland has until the autumn to do better May 20, 2014 RELAUNCHING a retail website is not easy. Behind the flashy new design and faux editorial content that draws shoppers towards key products is layer upon layer of complex infrastructure – payment systems and forms and code and algorithms. Somewhere in that complex maze of programming, Marks & Spencer tripped up. Before its new site went live [...]
Vodafone’s plan for investment scares traders May 20, 2014 VODAFONE led the FTSE 100 fallers yesterday after warning that crucial network investments would drag on its profits next year. Chief executive Vittorio Colao said the company would have to “muscle up” in countries like the UK and Germany in order to better compete. Vodafone said this additional investment would reduce its profits to between [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Vodafone’s financial results? May 20, 2014 ROBERT GRINDLE | ESPIRITO SANTO 2015 is an interesting one… as the company makes substantial investments in order to make a clearer distinction between the quality of its network and the competition. Should this be achieved, then alongside an improving macro environment Vodafone shares should benefit. SIMON WEEDEN | CITIGROUP We expect the weaker guidance [...]
Glencore avoids investor revolt and vows to hire female director May 20, 2014 MINER-TRADER Glencore Xstrata saw off a protest vote at its annual shareholder meeting yesterday, with a pledge to hire a female board member by the end of the year. Glencore is the last FTSE 100 company with an all-male board, attracting criticism from major shareholders. Yesterday business secretary Vince Cable said the firm has “consistently [...]
Shoe Zone £80m float to trigger £36m payout for family owners May 20, 2014 THE FAMILY behind discount footwear chain Shoe Zone will take home around £36m when the firm launches on London’s junior stock market this week. Shoe Zone has priced its shares at 160p, giving it a value of around £80m when it starts trading on the Alternative Investment Market on Friday. It was initially looking at [...]
Demolition in the City soars as firms prepare for building work May 20, 2014 DEMOLITION in the City of London has increased as property developers make way for new schemes and scramble to meet the gap in supply. According to the latest Deloitte London Office Crane Survey out yesterday, there was only one new construction start in the City over the last six months, which is Asia House on [...]
