Woodford lures three Invesco stars as $13bn leaves ex-funds May 1, 2014 FUND star Neil Woodford has poached three equity chiefs from his former home Invesco Perpeutal, adding to Invesco’s woes after it revealed a 15.5 per cent fall in profits yesterday. Stephen Lamacraft, Paul Lamacraft and Saku Saha, who worked in Woodford’s equity team, are on the verge of joining the fund veteran’s new company Woodford [...]
Metro Bank edges closer to turning a profit May 1, 2014 CHALLENGER bank Metro moved closer to the black in the first quarter, yesterday reporting its loan book is approaching the £1bn mark. The high street bank lost £10.6m after taxes in the three-month period, just down on the £10.8m it lost in the final quarter of 2013. Customer deposits at the bank grew by £301m [...]
New Serco boss kicks off with a £160m placing May 1, 2014 RUPERT Soames has started his tenure as head of Serco with a £160m fundraising to avoid a default on the outsourcing firm’s debts. Serco said worsening trading meant it was coming “uncomfortably close” to its leverage ratio limits, prompting the share placing to tide the firm over while Soames works out where to take the [...]
Bottom Line: New broom Soames has a lot to sweep up May 1, 2014 THERE’S nothing like a profit warning and an emergency cash call to kick off your tenure as chief executive of one of the FTSE 250’s most beleaguered groups. That’s what Serco boss Rupert Soames – poached from Aggreko in a major coup for the support services firm – faced yesterday on his first day in [...]
US corporate results round up May 1, 2014 Cereal maker Kellogg gets a rude awakening from generic rivals Kellogg, the world’s biggest maker of breakfast cereals, reported a bigger-than-expected fall in quarterly revenue yesterday as competition from private-label brands and alternative breakfast items ate into cereal sales. Sales at Kellogg’s US morning foods business fell 5.5 per cent in the first quarter. Oaktree [...]
Lancashire shares drop despite strong results May 1, 2014 SPECIALIST insurer Lancashire saw its share price tumble yesterday despite releasing strong first quarter results. Concern about how much of the company’s profits would be returned to shareholders prompted the share price to fall by as much as 3.6 per cent yesterday morning, before closing down 2.3 per cent Lancashire posted a 47 per cent [...]
N Brown eyes US expansion May 1, 2014 N BROWN, the online and catalogue retailer which targets older and plus-sized shoppers, revealed yesterday it is plotting a major expansion push in the US after posting a 5.3 per cent rise in full-year profit. Chief executive Angela Spindler said that while it sells three brands online in the US, it has decided to focus [...]
Phoenix quick off the mark in bid to generate £500m of cash May 1, 2014 PHOENIX Group yesterday said it was already half way towards meeting its cash targets for the full year after just 90 days, amid a push to cut debts and build a warchest for potential deals in the future. The FTSE 250 listed insurer, which makes money off closed life insurance books, generated £235m in the [...]
Arm starts hunt for new finance chief as 12-year veteran leaves May 1, 2014 BRITISH microprocessor designer Arm will begin searching for a new finance chief after announcing that long-serving executive Tim Score will leave the firm next year. Score will retire next May having worked at Arm since 2002 and having overseen the company’s rise into the dominant smartphone chip designer. “Tim has been, and continues to be [...]
Quintain buys Aldermary House for £40m May 1, 2014 QUINTAIN has made its first foray into the City office market after snapping up Aldermary House for £40m. The developer, best known for its huge regeneration scheme in Wembley, said yesterday it had bought all the units in the Aldermary House Unit Trust, which owns the leasehold to the ten storey building at 10-15 Queen [...]
