Gap upgrades full year forecast August 22, 2013 Gap yesterday reported a higher second-quarter profit, helped by the sales gains at its namesake and Old Navy chains and online, leading the clothing retailer to raise its full year profit forecast and dividend. The clothing retailer, which also operates the Banana Republic chain, now expects a profit for the year ending in February of [...]
Lufthansa plans $10bn jet order August 22, 2013 Deutsche Lufthansa’s board of directors and supervisory board are expected to approve in mid-September an order for about 50 wide-body jets worth more than $10bn at list prices, according to two people familiar with the matter. The German airline previously said it expected to place such an order in the second half of 2013. Lufthansa [...]
Car production in Britain goes up a gear in July August 22, 2013 CAR MANUFACTURERS in Britain produced seven per cent more cars last month, and analysts are expecting output to accelerate further during the rest of the year. Almost 129,000 cars rolled off the production lines in UK factories in July, compared to 120,391 for the same month a year ago. This jump helped to take year-to-date [...]
Property bond issues reach four-year high August 22, 2013 BONDS backed by commercial property in Europe have hit their highest level of issuance since 2009, rating agency Standard & Poor’s said yesterday. Issues of commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS) in the six months to June topped €5.4bn (£4.6bn), more than the €3.2bn issued last year. “Cautious optimism prevails in the European CMBS primary market,” [...]
Manufacturing crunch in China starts to ease August 22, 2013 FACTORY output in China stabilised in August after a sharp fall in June and July, according to an influential industry study published yesterday. An improvement in sentiment will also raise hopes China could be in for a soft landing, easing worries that the its economy might have slowed down sharply and impacted on the global [...]
Bond buying programme drives $100bn out of Europe into the US August 22, 2013 EUROPE has lost $100bn (£64bn) of stock market fund flows since the end of the financial crisis due to the effects of quantitative easing, figures out yesterday reveal. The $100bn cumulative outflow, the same magnitude as the cash ploughed into the continent following the US Marshall Plan in 1945, is in contrast to the wall [...]
City Views | Are you pleased that GCSE exams appear to be getting harder? August 22, 2013 JOE BINNSBNP PARIBAS It seems that papers are getting harder and that certainly is a good thing. There was talk about a relaxation on the marking so it probably is time for them to be getting harder. This way they are more relevant for later life.” KINGSLEY KANOROSBORNE CLARKE It’s definitely a good thing that [...]
Naked Wines founder prefers a cheap rosé August 22, 2013 THE CAPITALIST is raising a glass to the news that online wine merchant Naked Wines has announced a third round investment of $10m, to help it start popping more corks in the US and Australia. The British crowdfunding site is backed by angel investor customers who pay £20 per month to invest in small winemakers, and [...]
Sarries take on Josh Lewsey’s Pirates in Square Mile match August 22, 2013 LONDON rugby team Saracens were in the City last night, playing against the Cornish Pirates at the Honourable Artillery Company grounds. The game was also somewhat of a homecoming for ex-Citi trader Josh Lewsey, who left the Square Mile in April to become boss of the Pirates. Let’s just hope there were no daggers at dusk.
No hole in one for City Blind Date golfers August 22, 2013 FORMER trader and boss of website yourgolftravel.com Ross Marshall has found himself back in the Square Mile world recently, after organising rounds of Blind Date golf for City putters. Marshall’s golfing jolly website normally sends golfers to play at over 300 courses around the world. However, The Capitalist hears that this summer Marshall invited 2,000 [...]
