Beckham’s not the only one with golden balls April 21, 2014 ANYONE mourning the demise of Sea Containers House’s famous golden balls and wondering where they are can rest assured; their whereabouts have been pinpointed (well, one of them, at least). It seems UK Yorkstones, a salvage yard in Bayford, Hertfordshire is the final resting place for one of the iconic balls. The flamboyant spheres have [...]
Meet the City’s marathon man April 21, 2014 THE LONDON marathon may be melting into a distant, Deep Heat-tinged memory but one City worker’s marathon challenge is anything but over. Charles Cowling, a director at JLT Employee Benefits, is due to attempt the Brathay 10in10 (that’s 10 marathons in 10 days for the uninitiated) in little over a month. Cowling, who is also [...]
Sofa.com sales surge as it steps up its search for new investors April 21, 2014 ONLINE furniture retailer Sofa.com sales surged 20 per cent to £20.2m last year, ahead of a potential sale. In December City A.M. revealed that the eight year-old group had hired financial advisers Altium to explore options, including a sale or partial sale to help fund its expansion. It is understood to have already attracted interest [...]
City Moves for 22 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs April 21, 2014 DWF The law firm has appointed Stephen Miles as chief executive of its commercial services division. He joins from Pinsent Masons, where he was head of financial institutions and human capital, and a member of its leadership team. Miles is a transactional banking lawyer, and has acted for the national acquisition and leveraged finance teams [...]
European cuts denting sales at Kimberly-Clark April 21, 2014 TEARING up its business structure has pushed tissue maker Kimberly-Clark’s revenues lower in the first quarter of the year. The company behind Kleenex and Andrex said restructuring and foreign exchange costs had sent sales down one per cent to $5.3bn (£3.16bn). While organic sales were up four per cent, currency movements knocked off three per [...]
Kitemark company BSI tries to raise the standard in China and Antarctica April 21, 2014 THE COMPANY behind the Kitemark is exporting its quality checks as far afield as China and Antarctica. The British Standards Institution (BSI), set up in 1901 to ensure steel products were up to scratch, today posted a seven per cent rise in yearly revenues to £271.8m. Operating profits fell nine per cent to £28.3m, which [...]
Best of the Brokers for 22 April 2014 April 21, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com TESCO HSBC cuts its forecasts on the supermarket by 11 per cent for this year as UK like-for-like sales and margins appear to be sliding further, and has advised Tesco to consider withdrawing from parts of Europe. The broker keeps its “underweight” rating [...]
London Report: Osborne likely to have missed financial target April 21, 2014 UK PUBLIC borrowing figures this week are expected to show that the chancellor George Osborne narrowly missed his target for this year. And while future revisions may bring the figures back within Osborne’s target, the figures are likely to bring further scepticism about whether the UK can continue to meets its fiscal targets. “We expect [...]
New York Report: US stocks rise but investors wary after rally April 21, 2014 US STOCKS advanced modestly yesterday in subdued trading as investors showed hesitation in the wake of a strong rally last week and before a slew of key earnings releases this week. Yesterday’s gain marked the S&P 500’s fifth straight climb, its longest winning streak since October. The S&P 500 wrapped up its best week since [...]
It’s time to read the writing on the wall: Why the West no longer exists April 21, 2014 WHATEVER the final outcome of the violently simmering crisis in Ukraine, and however likely it is that that embattled state will remain caught in Russia’s crushing embrace, the greatest global political risk can’t be found in Kiev, eastern Ukraine or any of the other hotspots that get the media so excited. It lies in the [...]
