Business and older consumers: Turning silver into gold – Brand Index February 3, 2015 IN COLLABORATION with the consumer insights panel and KPMG, YouGov has published findings which explore the nature of an ageing population and the effect this could have on businesses. The report reveals it is high time businesses focused on the increasingly lucrative mature market. The image of older consumers should be reconsidered as should the [...]
Italy slides back into deflation February 3, 2015 ITALIAN annual inflation has plummeted to its lowest in half a century, according to official estimates. Annual inflation dropped to minus 0.6 per cent in January, It follows zero per cent year-on-year inflation in December as measured by Italy’s consumer prices index – a basket of goods and services. The figures were released yesterday by [...]
Chrysler profits driven up by its trucks and Jeep February 3, 2015 A JUMP in car sales lifted shares in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles yesterday as strong figures translated into increased profits at the motor manufacturer’s US division, FCA US. The positive results for the year ending 31 December underlined a trend which has seen the company increase its market share in its key North American markets, driven by [...]
Wendy’s aims to cut the fat as burger chain’s revenues drop February 3, 2015 US HAMBURGER chain Wendy’s yesterday unveiled plans to sell another 500 of its restaurants to franchisees as it seeks to cut down on spending. Wendy’s, the third largest hamburger chain by sales in the US, said it planned to “return substantial cash” to investors this year as its sells more of its restaurants to franchisees. Emil Brolick, [...]
Melrose returns £200m in share buy-back deal February 3, 2015 Engineering turnaround specialist Melrose Industries yesterday announced that it planned a 13-for-14 reverse stock split, more than two months after it sold a division that makes ropes used in mines. The company said it would return £200m, or about 18.7p per share, to shareholders from the proceeds of the £365m sale of its Bridon business, [...]
City Moves for 04 February 2015 | Who’s switching jobs February 3, 2015 Towers Watson The professional services firm has appointed Joris Wonders as practice leader for its rewards business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He re-joins Towers Watson from Kingfisher, where he launched new bonus and long-term incentive plans. F&C Investments The investment firm has announced the appointment of Alex Howe as sales director in [...]
Best of the Brokers for 04 February 2015 February 3, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com GRIFFIN MINING Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its “buy” rating for the mining firm following news that the expansion of its Caijiaying zinc mine “is proving challenging”. The broker said it believes Griffin will still reach its long term production goal but added “external factors [...]
BP beats earnings expectations and brings FTSE up too – London Report February 3, 2015 OIL COMPANIES, led by giant BP’s better-than-expected earnings report, bolstered the top index yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended up 1.3 per cent at 6,871.80 points, near its highest level since September 2014. Intertek, whose services include testing products to make sure they comply with safety standards, rose 6.5 per cent – the best-performing FTSE [...]
Oil price climb helps Wall St – New York Report February 3, 2015 US STOCKS jumped more than one per cent yesterday, led by energy shares as oil prices extended their recent rally, while higher-than-expected January car sales also bolstered the advance. Merger activity also helped, with shares of Office Depot jumping 21.6 per cent to $9.28 after reports the retailer was in advanced talks to merge with [...]
Why a failure to update archaic laws will hinder the rise of the smart city February 3, 2015 With Uber and Google now going head to head in the battle to develop driverless car technology, the spotlight has fallen once again on the concept of the Smart City. There is no absolute definition of what a smart city is. But the broad idea is to use digital technologies to create more efficient, responsive, [...]
