Best of the Brokers February 24, 2013 INDEPENDENT RESOURCES Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its “buy” rating on the stock after the Italian hydrocarbon ministry gave a favourable opinion for accepting the firm’s San Gervasio production concession application. The broker has a target price of 67p, well above the 8p range the stock currently trades on. It added that the project would be a [...]
RBS and Lloyds results look set to show losses February 24, 2013 STATE-BACKED banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group are both expected to announce full-year results this week, with analysts forecasting both lenders will remain loss-making. Investec believes RBS, which will deliver its 2012 figures on Thursday, will announce an attributable loss of £2.2bn for the final quarter – or a £5.6bn loss for [...]
Wall Street on edge over talk of end to QE February 24, 2013 US investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts this week, but the cut-off not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the “fiscal cliff” loomed large. Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defence, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling. [...]
Three reasons why Britain’s credit downgrade is no mere technicality February 24, 2013 A MAJOR irritation for anyone attempting to engage in an informed public discussion of economic policy is the media’s desire to latch onto any piece of news which makes a snappy headline. No one pretends that the majority of the public knows – or much cares – about how the ratings agencies work, but the [...]
How the City can play its part in tackling youth unemployment in London February 24, 2013 THE news that several London boroughs – including some that neighbour the Square Mile – are among the areas worst-hit by child poverty is a stark reminder of the tough economic climate many people are facing across the capital. It more vital than ever, therefore, that the City demonstrates how the positive relationship between finance [...]
The audit market wasn’t working: here’s how to fix it February 24, 2013 IN A wide-ranging set of findings, the Competition Commission has concluded that there are significant flaws and a lack of competition at the large company end of the UK audit market. The Big Four group of accountancy firms now acts as auditors for 90 per cent of Britain’s listed big companies. The problem, as diagnosed [...]
Letters to the editor February 24, 2013 Rising inflation [Re: Britain: a case study in low-growth economic mediocrity, Friday] Historically, inflation has followed an economic recovery – but not this time. British manufacturing (secondary sector) may be helped by a lower pound, but our economy now operates more in the tertiary sector. The real concern is not the manufacturing industry, but the [...]
Businessman who woke up and smelt the coffee February 24, 2013 Annabel Palmer talks to Andrew Rugasira, the Ugandan entrepreneur with a new book and a Good African story to tell THE lives of 14,000 farmers in the Ugandan Rwenzori Mountains have been transformed since Andrew Rugasira had his lightbulb moment in 2002. At the time, he was running a prosperous marketing and events company in [...]
Cloud computing could easily save your start-up money February 24, 2013 ACCORDING to technology consultancy IDC and IT firm EMC, the global digital universe will expand tenfold between 2012 and 2020, reaching a difficult to comprehend 40 zettabytes. To put this into perspective, in 2009 the internet was estimated to contain just half a zettabyte. Even then, if that quantity of data were printed and bound [...]
Paradise found at Canyon Ranch February 24, 2013 Newsreader Emma Crosby finds Canyon Ranch is the perfect antidote to the punishing daily newsbeat IT’S 7AM and the thermometer is already pushing 80 degrees centigrade. I’m cycling in what must be one of the most stark but beautiful places on Earth, the Sonora desert in the foothills of the Rincon Mountains in Arizona. My [...]
