Worldview on the war path in Petroceltic row July 2, 2015 The war of words between Irish oil firm Petroceltic and activist investor Worldview kicked off again yesterday, as the Swiss investment firm announced its intention to requisition an extraordinary general meeting (EGM). Petroceltic and Worldview, which holds 29 per cent of the oil company’s share capital, were previously engaged in a protracted battle over control [...]
Nestle’s Maggi Noodle deemed safe to eat by UK food regulator July 2, 2015 Nestle shares rose in trading yesterday after its Maggi Noodles range were deemed safe for consumption by the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA). The company was forced to destroy £32m of the Noodles in India after tests by the country’s food safety regulator said they were unfit for human consumption. Tests had detected higher than [...]
Barclays cheque scanning tech leaves other banks in the past July 2, 2015 Barclays customers are ahead of the curve when it comes to financial technology, as the bank’s secure cheque-scanning service was made available to all smartphone customers yesterday. Cheque imaging, which iPhone-owning Barclays clients have been able to use since last year, allows anyone using their banking app to pay a cheque into an account [...]
City Moves for 3 July 2015 | Who’s switching jobs July 2, 2015 Deloitte Real Estate The real estate firm has appointed Claire O’Shaughnessy as a director in real estate consulting, focusing on the public sector. She previously led the development of the footprint strategy in the strategic business partner team for the Ministry of Defence. Allianz Global Investors Iain Cowell has been appointed head of solutions for [...]
Best of the Brokers for 3 July 2015 July 2, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SERCO GROUP Numis upgraded the outsourcing group from a “reduce” to a “hold” recommendation, following an “encouraging” update. “Though the turnaround will take an extended period, we think the problem contract issues have been contained, and the balance sheet has been de-risked,” the [...]
FTSE slide halted by BP’s £12bn US settlement – London Report July 2, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index ended higher yesterday as oil major BP rose after reaching an $18.7bn (£12bn) settlement with the US government and commodity stocks tracked stronger crude oil and metals prices. BP rose 4.5 per cent, the top gainer in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, after saying it had reached the settlement on the [...]
Athens keeps things volatile in New York – New York Report July 2, 2015 THE GREEK debt crisis continued to play havoc with Wall Street stocks, after the International Monetary Fund warned Athens ahead of its Sunday referendum that it faces a huge financial hole. Meanwhile, mixed jobs data dampened the US economic outlook. While the IMF was warning that Greece needed an extra €50bn euros over the next [...]
Even pro-Europeans admit the Greek crisis has been disastrous for the EU July 2, 2015 There is a growing gap between the way the Greek crisis is seen in the Eurozone and the way it is seen across the rest of the world. Everyone agrees that Greece is a poorly governed country and that Syriza has played a poor hand badly. But whereas many Eurozone policy-makers appear sanguine about the [...]
George Osborne’s challenge: Will he make his mark as a tax reformer? July 2, 2015 Next week’s Budget is a big opportunity for George Osborne – now he’s able to shape public spending and tax policy free of the constraints of coalition politics. One of his Budget themes should be tax reform. In the 70 years since the end of the Second World War, there have been 22 chancellors of [...]
How Greece could pull fragile Europe back into recession July 2, 2015 European stocks began the week with losses of 4 per cent or more, a clear sign that investors are concerned about the news from Greece. Talks of a referendum, liquidity issues and bank closures mean that the next few days will be a transformational moment in the 60 year project of building a unified Europe. [...]
