Novartis cheers copycat delays October 22, 2013 SWISS drugmaker Novartis raised its full-year sales and profit forecasts for a second quarter in a row yesterday, as it benefited from delays to a cheap, copycat competitor to one of its best-selling drugs, blood pressure pill Diovan. Novartis’ net sales rose four per cent in the third quarter to $14.34bn. Core earnings per share [...]
Fare hikes help Delta fly high October 22, 2013 DELTA Air Lines yesterday reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit as fare increases and strength in the US and Europe boosted revenue. For the current quarter, Delta forecast an operating margin, a measure of income to costs, of seven per cent to nine per cent. Net income came to $1.37bn (£843m), or $1.59 a share, in [...]
City Moves for 23 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 22, 2013 Deloitte The business advisory firm has appointed Olaf Theilmann as a senior partner in its financial services practice. He was most recently at Barclays, where he was European chief commercial officer and member of its executive committee. Baker Tilly The accountancy firm has announced the hire of Karen Hine as head of private client tax. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 23 October 2013 October 22, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ARCELOR MITTAL UBS has moved the steel giant from “buy” to “sell” and dropped its target price from €11.50 to €10.50, after cutting its expectations for the group’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation by nine per cent next year and 8.5 [...]
London Report: FTSE at highest close since May on good results October 22, 2013 THE FTSE 100 scaled five-month highs yesterday, supported by expectations the US Federal Reserve will not trim stimulus any time soon and by a crop of strong updates from the likes of Reckitt Benckiser. A disappointing US jobs report suggested that momentum in the world’s top economy had already started to slow in September. With [...]
New York Report: S&P hits record after weak US jobs numbers October 22, 2013 THE DOLLAR slid to a two-year low against the euro and global equity markets rose for a fifth straight session yesterday after weak US jobs data reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its easy money policy intact into 2014. The S&P 500 closed at a record high, while US Treasuries’ yields fell to the lowest [...]
EDF nuclear subsidy is a naive gamble on the future price of carbon and gas October 22, 2013 RARELY have we seen a policy shrouded in so many what-ifs. The much-anticipated announcement that new French-designed atomic reactors are to finally go ahead at Hinkley Point in Somerset has been greeted with a mixture of elation and caution. The caution is well-founded, and Parliament’s scrutineers need to get ready. We still know very little [...]
Against the Grain: Why expensive renewable energy policies are failing to save the planet October 22, 2013 ENERGY price rises are again causing public anguish. The recent actions of some energy companies can be plausibly described as provocative, no matter how well-founded their decisions might be. They risk provoking the ire of the opposition, the government, and even former Prime Ministers like Sir John Major (who has just called for a windfall [...]
The Immigration Bill risks harming liberty and Britain’s economy October 22, 2013 THE PHRASE “papers, please” once conjured up the image of a totalitarian dystopia, where anyone might rat out their neighbour to the government. Britons have always been allergic to this informant culture – a hallmark of the unlimited state. But “papers, please” could soon become government policy. Whatever your perspective on migration, the Immigration Bill [...]
Letters to the Editor – 23/10 – Nuclear costs, Best of Twitter October 22, 2013 Nuclear costs [Re: Nuclear deal to cost £1bn, yesterday] The proposed cost of Hinkley nuclear plant, and the fact it will not be in working order until 2023, shows that Ed Davey’s plans have failed to address our short-term energy crisis and the issue of power running out by 2015. There should be a focus on [...]
