Ken Olisa’s colleague prepares to climb Mont Blanc and fly down it August 29, 2013 REGULAR readers may recall that The Capitalist reported earlier in the summer on former Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation board member Ken Olisa trademarking “More Soviet than City” – the memorable phrase he used when parting ways with the mining group. But now it appears one of his colleagues might be thinking “more water than alcohol” [...]
Goldman Sachs in pole position for Hastings bid August 29, 2013 GOLDMAN Sachs is discussions with British motor insurer Hastings about taking a stake in the company, it emerged yesterday. Hastings declined to comment on the identity of its potential suitor but the company said it is in discussion with various organisations as it looks to raise funds for future expansion. The company is currently privately owned [...]
Partnership Assurance hit by market slowdown August 29, 2013 PARTNERSHIP Assurance yesterday suffered a seven per cent fall in its share price – after saying growth in its the size of its key market would miss its in-house target for 2013. This was the biggest share price drop since the company went public in June. Chief executive Steve Groves said the market for its core [...]
Admiral speeds ahead despite motor insurance price battle August 29, 2013 WELSH car insurance firm Admiral yesterday reported a healthy rise in profits – but admitted that fierce competition is affecting its British division. “We didn’t grow the UK insurance business, which was great news because of the competitive environment,” said chief executive Henry Engelhardt. “Any time you can increase profits by six per cent when competitors [...]
Three ups price war with free 4G subscriptions August 29, 2013 THE UK’S smallest mobile network, Three, yesterday threw down the gauntlet to its bigger rivals as it announced plans to launch its super fast 4G in December – and offer the service free to existing subscribers. Three’s offering will join O2 and Vodafone, which launched competing 4G networks yesterday, and Everything Everywhere (EE), whose high speed network [...]
WPP shrugs off competition and raises revenue growth forecast August 29, 2013 THE WORLD’S largest advertising group, WPP, reported a 19 per cent rise in pre-tax profits yesterday, on revenues of £5.33bn. The London-based company made pre-tax profits of £637m in the first half of 2013, up from £570m in 2012. WPP is soon expected to lose its title as the world’s biggest advertising firm due to an [...]
Playtech plans to spend £500m as chairman Withers steps down August 29, 2013 GAMING software developer Playtech is looking to spend more than €600m (£512m) on acquisitions, as it looks to take advantage of more people betting on bingo and sport on their mobile phones and tablets. The company also said yesterday its chairman of seven years, Roger Withers, would leave in October and would be replaced by [...]
Hays heralds a return to profit for its UK arm August 29, 2013 RECRUITMENT firm Hays has turned a profit in Britain for the first time in five years, in what chief executive Alistair Cox said reflects a return to growth in most parts of the UK jobs market. “We are on the front foot in terms of growth now, we expect the UK to continue to grow,” [...]
Westfield London plans rent rises as sales continue to grow at malls August 29, 2013 RETAILERS at the Shepherd’s Bush branch of London mall Westfield are facing rent rises, after its owner posted strong sales growth for the first six months of 2013. Sales at Westfield London rose 1.9 per cent in the six months to the end of June, while sales at Westfield Stratford City – its east London cousin [...]
Analyst Views: Is Hays back on the path to growth? August 29, 2013 DAVID O’BRIEN SHORE CAPITAL “We note the strong reduction in net debt, to £105m overall, from £133m at the beginning of the year and further shrinkage anticipated in 2014 by us and management. We are placing our forecasts under review, expecting to increase adjusted pre-tax profit expectations by mid-single digit percentage. JUSTIN JORDAN JEFFERIES “In [...]
