EasyJet shares dip in spite of better losses May 13, 2014 EASYJET landed a smaller-than-expected loss in the first half of its financial year, helped by a rise in business passengers choosing the low-cost airline. Shares in the firm fell 4.2 per cent to make it the worst performer in the FTSE 100 yesterday, which analysts blamed on profit-taking after a strong year and several forecast [...]
Analyst Views: With the shares falling, how should investors take Easyjet’s results? May 13, 2014 STEPHEN FURLONG | DAVYWe view the outlook statement as robust. EasyJet sees percentage revenue per seat growth at constant currency for the six months to end-September 2014 in the low single digits. Around 51 per cent of H2 seats are sold and trading continues to be in line with management expectations. Underperform. GERT ZONNEVELD | [...]
Citizens plans for expansion after RBS sale May 13, 2014 RBS’s US bank Citizens has detailed its plans to get bigger in mortgage lending and commercial debt once it has been sold off as a separate entity. The bailed-out British bank wants to re-focus its operations on domestic retail and business lending. As a result it is floating Citizens in the US, selling a stake [...]
Heathrow plans a tunnel under runway for M25 May 13, 2014 HEATHROW wants to build a 14-lane motorway that would reach the airport through a 600-metre underground tunnel, as part of its £15.6bn plan to construct a third runway. The airport, which along with Gatwick will today submit final proposals to the Davies commission, said the M25 upgrade between junctions 14 and 15 could be completed [...]
Focus on: Pharma bosses face MPs over merger May 13, 2014 Day one of the select committee hearing on Pfizer’s planned takeover of Astrazeneca threw up questions on everything from job guarantees to the Takeover Code and Ian Read’s bizarre gold decision coin. Here’s what you need to know. IAN READPfizer chairman and chief executive I have not seen Astrazeneca’s books. Some things are sight-unseen. But the [...]
Bottom Line: Astrazeneca must prove it is worth more May 13, 2014 SINCE it officially rejected Pfizer’s approach on 2 May, Astrazeneca has issued no fewer than six updates to the market on its pipeline of drugs. To pharma novices, presenting “Phase IIb data on two novel investigational molecules” may mean very little, but to investors these announcements are like catnip, providing a glimpse into which drugs could [...]
SocGen unveils plan to cut costs and up revenue May 13, 2014 INVESTORS were unimpressed by Societe Generale’s plans to cut costs and grow revenues, sending its shares down yesterday. The giant French bank wants to increase its return on equity to above 10 per cent by the end of 2016, up from 8.4 per cent last year. To get there is wants to increase its revenues [...]
Letting agents will be forced to display fees May 13, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT has announced plans to force letting agents to publish the fees they charge tenants, both on their websites and prominently in their branches. In a policy designed to take the wind out of Labour’s proposal to ban the fees charged to tenants, Nick Clegg revealed that the measures would help renters to shop [...]
Brand Index: Birds Eye fights to thaw shoppers’ hearts after horsemeat May 13, 2014 THE PAST 18 months have not been easy for the frozen foods sector as its tries to rebuild its reputation in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. Some brands wrote open letters to consumers to try to restore trust and improve perception, but today I want to look at Birds Eye, a company that overhauled [...]
Paddy Power’s chief to stand down next year May 13, 2014 BOOKMAKER Paddy Power kicked off a search for a new chief executive yesterday after announcing that veteran boss Patrick Kennedy would step down in 2015 following nearly ten years in the role. “I have always had a personal view that after 10 years at the helm, change is good, both for the business and the [...]
