William Hill cries foul as football results lead to worst ever week April 23, 2015 WILLIAM Hill’s share price slid yesterday as the firm said heavy losses in January led to plunging profits during the first quarter. The betting firm was particularly hard hit in its online sports betting sector, where win margins slipped 0.1 per cent to seven per cent, falling short of expectations. The fall was attributed to [...]
Matomy Media shares fall 17 per cent on poor earnings estimate April 23, 2015 INTERNATIONAL online marketing group Matomy Media’s shares took a dive yesterday after it said it expects higher revenues to be its only good financial news this year. The Israel-based firm anticipated revenue for the year ending 31 December to range from $275m (£182.9m) to $285m. At a midpoint estimate of $280m, this represents a four [...]
St George’s Day brings English fans to the City April 23, 2015 LEADENHALL Market became ye olde England yesterday, as the City celebrated St George’s Day. No, it’s not a bank holiday yet – Ukip’s still working on that one. But there were plenty willing to take time out to get wrapped up in the St George’s Cross or indulge in some typically English pursuits; namely eating [...]
Loyalty membership Costa lot as coffee card scheme data hacked April 23, 2015 Costa Coffee suspended millions of Coffee Club Card online accounts yesterday after hundreds of its loyalty scheme members suffered a security breach. The Whitbread-owned coffee shop said that it had identified a small number of members who had “some unusual activity” on their accounts after carrying out security checks. A spokesperson told City A.M. the [...]
Anglo American share price rises despite missing analysts’ targets in first quarter April 23, 2015 Shares in mining group Anglo American were up by 4.73 per cent yesterday, despite the company’s failure to meet analysts’ expectations in its production update for the three months to 31 March. Copper production fell by 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, down to 171,800 tonnes from 202,000 tonnes in the same [...]
City Moves for 24 April 2015 | Who’s switching jobs April 23, 2015 Deloitte Real Estate Gerry Biddle has been appointed senior specialist business rates consultant in Deloitte’s real estate division’s valuation advisory and business rates team. He was responsible for setting up the London specialist rating unit of the Valuation Office Agency. Aviva Investors Simon Young has been appointed UK equities fund manager at Aviva’s asset management [...]
Novartis profit beats forecasts as its overhaul begins to pay off April 23, 2015 NOVARTIS posted forecast-beating first-quarter profits yesterday as the Swiss pharmaceutical company showed the benefits of its comprehensive restructuring. Top-line figures were hit by the strength of the US dollar as reported revenues fell seven per cent to $11.9bn (£7.9bn) during the period compared to the year before. Net income was also hit by currency fluctuations, [...]
Mercedes fined £38m for breach of Chinese anti-monopoly laws April 23, 2015 MERCEDES-BENZ was yesterday fined £37.6m after a Chinese regulator found the car maker had breached anti-trust laws. The National Development and Reform Commission of the eastern Jiangsu province said the company had been issuing pricing instructions to car dealers between January 2013 and July 2014. The regulator said this was in violation of anti-monopoly laws [...]
Sheffield firm cleaning up in the US April 23, 2015 SHEFFIELD-based tech company Xeros yesterday announced it had gained 61 new sales partners to distribute its systems in the US. The Aim-listed company led by Bill Westwater (pictured), which has developed a way of replacing most of the water used in industrial and commercial laundry with polymer beads, saw shares rise 11.5 per cent to [...]
Best of the Brokers for 24 April 2015 April 23, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com GAME DIGITAL Liberum upgraded the video games retailer to a “buy” rating from “hold”, following a capital markets day which “showed that Game can develop and diversify sales and profits over the next 24 months”. While current trading is soft, the broker sees [...]
