By: Harriet Green

I am City A.M.'s deputy business features editor. I look after the Entrepreneurs page, Alternative Finance and our Office Politics section. I also help out with the Forum, running our daily debate. I have a special interest in distributed ledger technology. Prior to working at City A.M., I ran a social enterprise.

All 2075 Articles

National Grid boss warns of tighter energy supplies as profits slip in first half

November 21, 2013

Power transmission network National Grid has reported a seven per cent drop in first-half profit before tax, to £979m, reflecting "the temporary additional cost of pre-financing asset growth at attractive interest rates". The company says its on track for a good full year result, and that performance has been solid. (Release) Head of National Grid Steve Holliday [...]
Any other business – 21/11

November 20, 2013

Airplane meals are not particularly tasty, but it seems a bit excessive to pack a lunch for your flight. When the cleaners of a Jet Airways plane stumbled across two lunch boxes stashed in the toilets they assumed they were bombs. However, on closer inspection the boxes turned out to contain 12 gold bars each. [...]
Co-op Bank and Flowers in line for multiple probes

November 20, 2013

Prime minister David Cameron announced this afternoon that there may well be an inquiry into the disgraced Paul Flowers' appointment as chairman of the Co-op Bank, and his suitability for the role. There are "lots of questions" to be answered, he said. The inquiry would be ordered by chancellor George Osborne and arranged by the [...]
Fall in US home sales picks up pace in October

November 20, 2013

The number of completed transactions on home sales in the US fell 3.2 per cent in October, with the existing home sales index coming in at 5.12m. The reading follows September's drop of 1.9 per cent, to 5.29m. Analysts had expected a fall of 2.6 per cent to 5.15m. Paul Diggle, property economist at Capital [...]
US CPI falls to four-year low of one per cent in October

November 20, 2013

CPI in October increased just 1.0 per cent, compared to October 2012 – the smallest 12-month increase since October 2009. Analysts had expected a 1.1 per cent increase, following September's 1.2 per cent rise, which was the smallest gain since April. The drop, says Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics, is unlikely to impact the Fed's [...]
Bankers explain difficulties of outside-in valuations as their Royal Mail figures vastly outstrip £3.3bn sell-off price

November 20, 2013

Some interesting stuff is coming out of the BIS select committee, where a panel of MPs is grilling the invement banks involved in the sell-off of Royal Mail. Details from the banks not selected to run the flotation have been garnered. A quick reminder, because the bankers have not made it clear: Some of the [...]
Bank of England may keep rates low even if unemployment threshold is reached

November 20, 2013

Minutes from the Bank of England November Monetary Policy Committee meeting reiterate that the Bank believes there may be a case for not raising rates immediately after unemployment falls to the seven per cent threshold rate – the seven per cent is a marker, not a trigger. A scan of the minutes shows no fundamental [...]
UBS downgrades Royal Mail to “sell” as panel of MPs begin grilling bankers on sale

November 20, 2013

UBS analysts have downgraded their recommendation for the Royal Mail, advising clients to "sell" shares in the postal service. UBS, one of the banks that ran the flotation of the company, recommends selling on valuation grounds, with a target of 450p. Shares have surged over 60 per cent since they were sold, but UBS now [...]
GSK Aspen sale raises pharma giant £429.5m

November 20, 2013

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said this morning that it has completed the partial sale of its stake in Aspen Pharmacare, Africa's largest drug company, earning R7,059m (£429.5m) for the UK pharma firm. (Release) The net proceeds of the transaction, which is for around six per cent of GSK's stake in Aspen, will be used for "general corporate purposes". [...]
Kentz wins $190m Qatar Petroleum contract

November 20, 2013

Kentz Corporation, the holding company of the Kentz engineering and construction group, has been awarded an $190m (£117.9m) contract by Qatar Petroleum for work on around 775 wells across its Dukhan Oilfield in Qatar. (Release) Kentz will deliver the engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning for wellhead industrial control systems, alongside corrosion protection at the wells. [...]

First real estate float on challenger stock market Aquis

KSI takes stake in Dagenham and Redbridge and vows to bring back glory days

Psst… This is how to ski Les 3 Vallées without the crowds

By: Harriet Green

All 2075 Articles

Subscribe