BTG falls despite positive update January 29, 2014 Shares in healthcare specialist BTG fell nearly four per cent yesterday despite the FTSE 250 firm reporting trading that was in line with forecasts. The company, which specialises in commercialising products that target critical care, cancer and vascular disease, has reiterated its revenue guidance of between £275m to £285m for the current financial year following [...]
Staffline hikes its dividend January 29, 2014 Recruitment firm Staffline raised its dividend by nearly a quarter yesterday after posting a 13.4 per cent rise in annual revenues to £416.2m. The firm, which recruits mainly in logistics and runs Welfare to Work programmes, said pre-tax profit was broadly flat at £8.6m. Analysts at Liberum said the results were ahead of forecasts and [...]
City Moves for 30 January 2014 | Who’s switching jobs January 29, 2014 Harrington Brooks The debt solutions provider has announced the appointment of Nicola Beamish as finance director. She has over 20 years’ experience working in finance. Beamish was most recently at LBM Direct Marketing, where she was a finance director. Field Fisher Waterhouse The law firm has hired Geoff Mendelsohn as an IT disputes partner. He was previously [...]
Best of the Brokers for 30 January 2014 January 29, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ENTERPRISE INNS Numis has downgraded Enterprise Inns from “add” to “hold” with a target price of 170p ahead of the firm’s management statement tomorrow. The broker said that the company’s recent strength, valuation and regulatory backdrop had caused it to change its recommendation. [...]
London Report: Volatility hurts FTSE as it drops to six-week low January 29, 2014 THE UK’S top share index fell to six-week lows yesterday, on investor concern about the effect a further reduction of US monetary stimulus would have on emerging markets. Investors have been on edge in the past days as unease about Chinese growth and the withdrawal of US monetary stimulus spread from emerging-market currencies to the [...]
New York Report: Wall St falls further after Fed decision January 29, 2014 STOCKS dropped more than one per cent yesterday, hitting session lows after the Federal Reserve stuck with its plan to scale back stimulus even in the midst of emerging market turmoil. With the day’s decline, the S&P 500 is down four per cent for the month – its worst monthly loss since May 2012. Some [...]
Emerging market desperation risks a repeat of 1997 Asian crisis blunders January 29, 2014 THE EMERGING market sell-off has prompted central bankers to act. Yesterday, South Africa’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.5 percentage points to 5.5 per cent, citing the depreciation of the rand and an increased risk to the country’s inflation outlook. The Reserve Bank of India has also increased its benchmark rate by [...]
We’re no longer the world’s largest financial services exporter: We should worry January 29, 2014 ECONOMIC growth is humming away at an annual rate of nearly 3 per cent, inflation is bang on target and the government’s deficit is falling. But even the sunniest of days often have some clouds. At risk of being damned as a spoilsport, there is a little-noticed fact about our economic recovery I find pretty [...]
We’re not witnessing the stirring of another Dot-com tech bubble January 29, 2014 IT MAY be chilly outside but, for those of us analysing the UK tech market, it couldn’t be hotter. It was a stellar year in 2013 for the sector. In the US, the Nasdaq index of technology-focused stocks reached highs last witnessed in 2000 – at the height of the Dot-com boom. Here in the [...]
Letters to the Editor – 30/01 – School leavers, Facebook, Best of Twitter January 29, 2014 School leavers [Re: Better Schools, Friday] This article rightly praises the overall improvement in exam results in England, and especially in London. However, education is not just about exam results but teaching all students, academically able or not, the communication skills and confidence to be useful to employers who take on those leaving school. As [...]
