Serco slides as market expects it to warn on 20pc lower profit April 29, 2014 SERCO’S shares plummeted almost 20 per cent yesterday morning and closed 15 per cent lower, after the struggling outsourcer warned a downgrade to profit forecasts and a rights issue may be on the cards. The scandal-tainted FTSE 250 company did not give further details, but analysts at Liberum and Investec forecast a 20 per cent [...]
Senior Conservative MP resigns triggering by-election in Newark April 29, 2014 FORMER front bench Conservative MP Patrick Mercer dramatically resigned his seat last night over claims he was paid to ask questions in the House of Commons. Mercer’s decision to resign comes after MPs on the cross-party standards committee suspended him from parliament for six months over claims that a fake lobbying firm paid him to [...]
Sainsbury headquarters go under hammer April 29, 2014 TISHMAN Speyer has snapped up Sainsbury’s headquarters at 33 Holborn, the property developer announced yesterday, in a deal thought to be worth £310m. The Foster & Partners-designed building, which was sold by Germany investment firm Union Investment, is let to the supermarket chain until 2026.
Euro credit drop keeps Draghi under spotlight April 29, 2014 EUROZONE lending is still falling despite the modest recovery in the region’s growth, raising further questions about whether the European Central Bank (ECB) will ease policy again in the near future. Loans to the private sector dropped 2.2 per cent in the year to March, little changed from the 2.2 per cent and 2.3 per [...]
UK industry fears skills squeeze in push to hire a million workers April 29, 2014 MANUFACTURERS are starting to feel the effects of a squeeze on skills as the economy recovers, and will need a million new employees by 2020, according to a report released today. Industry group EEF says the limited number of students in technical subjects in the UK could be a strain on the sector. When looking [...]
Brits refuse to ditch emerging market stocks April 29, 2014 BRITISH investors are staying loyal to emerging markets despite billions of dollars being pulled from the troubled regions last year, according to a poll. Just nine per cent of UK shareholders said they had rotated away from emerging markets, despite share price performance lagging the rest of the world by 30 per cent last year. [...]
Whitbread plots growth of Costa shops in France April 29, 2014 AFTER winning over coffee addicts in the UK, Whitbread said yesterday it plans to take its Costa Coffee chain to France as it posted a jump in profits and rewarded shareholders with a 20 per cent rise in its dividend. The FTSE 100 company, which also owns the Premier Inn hotel chain, said underlying operating [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Whitbread’s full-year results? April 29, 2014 JAMES HOLLINS | INVESTECWhitbread has provided another nail in the coffin of our bear stance with a strong set of full-year results… With the UK consumer feeling stronger than for a number of years, and the group on track for its 2016 and 2018 targets, our current “sell” recommendation looks overly bearish and goes under [...]
Atherton’s new joint is putting the social in City April 29, 2014 THE CITY rubbed shoulders with celeb-land last night at the launch of Jason Atherton’s latest foodie-den, City Social, at Tower 42. Model David Gandy was there turning heads, as was Sherlock himself, Benedict Cumberbatch who reminisced about the venue. “It’s a fantastic night, I’ve worked here before in fact – we filmed episode two of [...]
Mind the snap: Boris poses for a strike selfie April 29, 2014 NEVER one abandon to his people to a morning of queueing at bus stops and squeezing, sardine-like, into Tube stations alone, Boris Johnson trooped down to London Bridge yesterday to support strike-stricken commuters. He was happy to pose for a selfie with a passer-by but deftly maintained a half-grimace to show his displeasure at the [...]
