Cost of sales leads Brammer to profit crash February 17, 2015 INDUSTRIAL products supplier Brammer reported a 46.2 per cent fall in profit as sales, distribution and administration costs jumped. The company’s profit dropped to £17.7m in 2014, from £32.9m in the year before despite an 11 per cent revenue growth. Brammer, which distributes its products in several European countries, boosted its revenue with increased sales [...]
City Moves for 18 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 17, 2015 Crowdcube Dean Mayer and Stuart Nicol have been appointed head of Debt and growth director respectively by the crowdfunding platform. Mayer is co-founder of Fidelitas, a mini-bond and debt advisory firm, and brings 22 years’ experience. He has worked at Belvall Capital, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, RBS and HSBC Private Equity. Nicol has worked at The [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 February 2015 February 17, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com CENTRICA Whitman Howard reiterated its “buy” rating for the utilities firm, ahead of its full-year results. The broker said the falling oil price will impact forward profitability but added that while a dividend cut has been mooted in the market, such a move [...]
FTSE up on hope that Bank will keep rates low – London Report February 17, 2015 Britain’s top share index yesterday climbed to a five-month high on expectations that the Bank of England would keep interest rates down, after data showed inflation sank to a record low in January. The annual inflation rate fell to 0.3 per cent last month from 0.5 per cent in December, official data showed, largely reflecting [...]
Optimism over Greece raises S&P to record – New York Report February 17, 2015 THE S&P 500 ended above 2,100 at another record high yesterday as optimism grew that a debt deal would be reached with Greece and as bond prices sold off. In a possible sign of progress for Greece, a source told Reuters the country intended to ask for an extension of a loan agreement today. The [...]
Ringing the changes: Why Britain’s retail bond market has life in it yet February 17, 2015 The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Order Book for Retail Bonds (ORB) today. The trading platform enables retail investors to buy and sell corporate bond issues. Corporate bonds should be an important asset class for retail investors. They generally offer higher interest rates than many bank and building society [...]
Mass immigration must become a feature in the debate about inequality February 17, 2015 Inequality is now a buzzword in Britain. Scarcely a week goes by without a new publication by an academic or journalist lamenting the levels of poverty facing swathes of the population. And they are bolstered by a complicit metropolitan liberal elite, who shed crocodile tears for the poor, while ruminating on the current situation. Unfortunately, [...]
Record low inflation should not rule out a post-election rate rise February 17, 2015 The long-term view of UK inflation is much more positive than January’s figures suggest. Yesterday’s numbers showed that the UK inflation rate has fallen further – to 0.3 per cent. But the decline is showing signs of bottoming out – and temporary fluctuations should not distract us from this. Excluding food, drink, tobacco and energy, [...]
Eastern promise: Keys to investing in Asian markets February 17, 2015 Emerging Asia was one of the best performing regions in the five years leading up to the financial crisis, delivering a 20 per cent return per year in sterling terms. And despite the fact that, over the past two years, the region has underperformed developed markets, it remains a favourite place for UK investors to [...]
Street food in the City? Street Kitchen co-founder Mark Jankel on his locally sourced alternative to Pret February 17, 2015 We were professional chefs and we thought it would be good fun to set up a street food kitchen, just to see how it worked. We did it as a bit of a laugh for two weeks, and loved it so much we decided to pursue it as a business. I left an executive job [...]
