Investors build up Unite equity May 19, 2015 Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund has accepted unconditional subscriptions for £306m of new equity ,from existing and new investors, after completion of a successful fundraising. The company’s new units will be priced at the prevailing quarterly net asset value at the time when capital is drawn, plus a premium of approximately 1.5 per cent. The [...]
WPP buys stake in Ascot and Liverpool FC sports marketers Two Circles May 19, 2015 WPP has gained a majority stake in Two Circles Limited, a London-based, data-driven sports marketing agency. After the deal, Two Circles will become part of ESP Properties, GroupM’s newly launched company serving rightsholders in the worlds of sports and entertainment. Founded in 2011, Two Circles has become the market leader for a data-driven approach to [...]
Homeserve has left problems in past says boss May 19, 2015 HOMESERVE boss Richard Harpin cited retailer Next as an inspiration for the company’s turnaround, and said that the repairs business had put its previously regulatory problems “firmly in the past”. The company reported revenue of £584.2m for the year ended 31 March, up from £568.3m, while profit before tax climbed from £24.4m to £76.7m. While [...]
Well, it makes a change from cloudy skies … May 19, 2015 On yet another day across London when the spring sunshine was washed away by a lot of heavy showers, the relatively rare – and brief – appearance of a double rainbow graced the skies above Tower Bridge yesterday. More settled weather is to return today.
City Moves for 20 May 2015 | Who’s switching jobs May 19, 2015 EY The professional services firm has appointed Andrew Penny as senior advisor to its real estate corporate finance team. Penny has a wide range of experience, and was formerly global co-head of real estate investment banking at JP Morgan. National Counties Building Society Rodger Hughes has been appointed chairman of the Epsom-based building society. He [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 May 2015 May 19, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com PARAGON Analysts at Numis cited below-forecast half year results and a weak balance sheet as reasons for their “Sell” rating on Paragon. They said, of its peers, Paragon is “by far the most at risk of a recovery that sees interest rates increase.” [...]
Land Securities lift market as miners and Vodafone fall – London Report May 19, 2015 BRITAIN’S top share index rose yesterday, led by Land Securities, which raised its dividend payout and offset a drop in heavily weighted miners and telecoms firm Vodafone. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 26.23 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 6,995.10 at the close. The index is up nearly seven per cent this year. Shares [...]
Home permit data boosts US – New York Report May 19, 2015 US STOCKS ended mixed yesterday, with the Dow rising marginally to a second straight record high, as Wall Street digested housing data that some saw as hopeful for an economy struggling to grow. US housing starts jumped to their highest level in nearly seven and a half years in April. Some investors interpreted that as [...]
Stop the dithering: David Cameron needs to make an early call on Heathrow or Gatwick airport expansion May 19, 2015 As MPs arrive in Westminster to take their seats in the House of Commons this week, one of the bigger decisions they will face – and one which I believe must be taken urgently – is the decision to build a new London runway. Having spent almost three years rigorously examining all the evidence, [...]
Wider appeal isn’t what a dying Labour should worry about – it’s core voters May 19, 2015 Could Labour disappear? The party has been a prominent feature of British politics for a century, but could we now see it just vanish? There is a clear historical precedent. In 1906, the Liberal Party won 399 seats in the House of Commons. It was a great, reforming government, which laid the foundations of [...]
