Retail figures surprise fuels recovery hopes February 28, 2012 HOPES that the economy is beginning to recover were boosted by upbeat retail sales figures published yesterday, although shoppers remained cautious of splashing out on big-ticket items. The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) distributive trades story showed 34 per cent of retailers reported increasing sales volumes in February while 36 per cent suffered a decline, [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DID YOU MAKE OF WHITBREAD’S RESULTS? February 28, 2012 JAMIE ROLLO | MORGAN STANLEY Whitbread has reported fourth quarter like-for-like sales growth of 1.8 per cent, in line with our expectations but with a slightly different mix…With a stronger performance at Costa balancing the slightly weaker performance at Premier Inn we do not expect to see changes to consensus for 2012. WYN ELLIS | [...]
HALMA RINGS THE CHANGES AND HIRES BROKERS WITH PAST LINKS February 28, 2012 THEY say that a City broker’s relationship with a client is usually a significant one and so it has proved at Halma, the safety, health and sensor technology group, which yesterday hired Investec and Credit Suisse as joint brokers. Out goes JP Morgan Cazenove. Both Investec and Credit Suisse benefit from relationships made by two [...]
CUSHMAN POACHES CBRE DUO February 28, 2012 ANOTHER week, another staffing coup in the property world – this time costing CBRE two star agency directors, Digby Flower and Andrew Parker. After a 17-year stint at CBRE, where he was a member of the Central London Board, Flower told City A.M it was time for a change and looks forward “to bringing some [...]
CRH bullish as its profits beat forecast February 28, 2012 BUILDING materials group CRH said yesterday that full-year profits came in ahead of forecasts for its debut results as a FTSE 100 company. CRH said the outlook for 2012 is positive despite rising energy costs and a weaker economic picture in Europe. The Irish company is strong in the US, where it is the major [...]
GKN boosted as luxury car market gets into gear February 28, 2012 CAR and plane parts maker GKN said yesterday a strong performance from its cars business was behind a 15 per cent rise in 2011 profit, as sales of luxury cars like Audi and BMW rose and demand in China remained strong. The company reported pre-tax profits of £417m on revenue 13 per cent higher at [...]
Apple reaches $500bn value February 28, 2012 SHARES in Apple closed at a record high of $535.41 last night, valuing the company in excess of $500bn. The tech giant, already the world’s biggest listed firm after surpassing Exxon, becomes one of just six public companies worldwide to ever pass the $500bn equity value barrier, with its market cap set to hit the [...]
Criminal probe into the Libor February 28, 2012 THE JUSTICE Department is conducting a criminal probe into whether the world’s biggest banks manipulated a global benchmark rate, according to a person familiar with the situation. While the Justice Department’s inquiry into how the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is set had been known, the criminal aspect of the probe was not. The [...]
Serco profits rise as Asia drives growth February 28, 2012 OUTSOURCING firm Serco will target further expansion in fast-growing markets in Australasia and the Middle East in 2012, after the regions helped it ride out tougher times in its core UK and US markets. FTSE 100-listed Serco, which runs services from the Docklands Light Railway to prisons and air traffic control centres around the world, [...]
Costs dent Perform’s results February 28, 2012 DIGITAL sports rights group Perform yesterday revealed its first annual results since floating on the London Stock Exchange last April, showing strong revenue growth despite a steep drop in pre-tax profits. Revenues rose 53 per cent to £103.2m leading to a £14.7m net profit excluding one-off costs, up 45 per cent on 2010. But unadjusted [...]
