Barclays goes low on pricing of new cocos November 14, 2013 BARCLAYS gave investors a generous price on the launch of its $2bn (£1.2bn) contingent convertible (coco) bond yesterday, a cautious plan to ensure strong trading with the relatively new capital instrument. The bank is paying 8.25 per cent for the instrument, which it issued as part of its plan to raise capital and improve its [...]
New Burberry boss shakes up management November 14, 2013 BURBERRY’S new boss Christopher Bailey unveiled a fresh management structure yesterday to help reassure investors that he is the right person to lead the luxury goods group. Bailey, who has been at Burberry for 12 years, will replace Angela Ahrendts when she steps down next year to take up a new role with Apple. However, [...]
Six bankers summoned by MPs over Royal Mail pricing named November 14, 2013 BANKERS who will be brought before the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee on Wednesday to answer criticisms that the Royal Mail privatisation was undervalued have been named. James Robertson, a UK coverage banker at UBS, and Richard Cormack, co-head of equity capital markets at Goldman Sachs, will represent the two lead banks who advised the [...]
Warm weather hits winter clothes sales November 14, 2013 RETAIL sales took a knock in October, official figures showed yesterday, as the mild Autumn hit sales of winter clothes. Sales have been growing steadily as the economy recovers, and analysts believe the 0.7 per cent fall compared with September’s sales will not start a new downward trend. Compared with October 2012, sales were up 2.5 [...]
Centrica issues profit warning even as bills rise November 14, 2013 BRITISH Gas owner Centrica yesterday warned that profits would be lower than expected this year, despite recently unveiling a 9.2 per cent increase to customers’ energy bills. “Market conditions remain challenging, particularly in business energy supply in both the UK and the US, in UK gas-fired power generation and in UK gas storage,” said the [...]
Snapchat turns down $3bn offer from Facebook November 14, 2013 FOR THOSE under 25, the phrase, “Send me a snap!” needs no explanation. For those a little older, I’ll explain. Sending a “snap” means sending an image (most likely a selfie) to your friends using the app Snapchat. You can draw on the image or add a caption, and even decide how long friends can [...]
Inside Track: The new issues market hits the first signs of trouble November 14, 2013 WHAT a difference a week makes. Last week I reported on a piece of research from Deloitte, the business advisory firm, on the storming performance of 10 main market flotations in 2013, including Royal Mail obviously, showing how their overall share price performance had outperformed the wider market seven times. This week the talk has [...]
Serco’s shares plummet after profit warning November 14, 2013 SERCO, the outsourcing firm at the centre of a string of investigations over government contracts, saw its bad run continue yesterday when it issued a profit warning for 2013 and 2014, sending its shares down 17 per cent. Serco blamed “challenging market conditions” and the government contracts debacle for cutting into profits and warned that [...]
Retail investors set to be scaled back in Terra Firma’s Infinis float November 14, 2013 RETAIL investors are set to be scaled back considerably in the flotation of Terra Firma’s renewable energy company Infinis, City A.M. understands. Retail investors have been drawn to this new issue in part because of an expected dividend yield of around 6.5 per cent. Brokers also say that retail investors who were unsuccessful in their attempt [...]
Pru puts faith in emerging markets boom November 14, 2013 PRUDENTIAL chief executive Tidjane Thiam yesterday said retiring US baby boomers and a burgeoning Asian middle class would fuel the company’s aggressive growth plans over the next five years. Thiam, who took over as Pru chief executive in 2009, sounded a bullish note on future growth prospects after posting double-digit profit increases in new business [...]
