Jitters ahead of euro summit and downgrades sink FTSE December 8, 2011 BRITAIN’S top shares sank to their lowest close in more than a week yesterday, having endured another choppy session, as investors jostle for position ahead of a crucial European Union summit outcome today. Sentiment was hurt when European Central Bank president Mario Draghi cooled market expectations about the prospect of an acceleration in ECB bond [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 8, 2011 Accor Jean-Jacques Dessors has been promoted to chief operating officer of the hotels group for the Middle East, Africa, Indian Ocean and Caribbean Islands, effective from January 2012. Dessors is currently COO for Accor UK and Ireland, responsible for the Sofitel, MGallery, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis, All Seasons and Etap hotels. He has expanded Accor’s UK [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 8, 2011 ANTOFAGASTA Nomura rates the miner a “buy” with a £16.50 target price as it sees the firm as a high-quality, long-life, low-cost copper pure-play. Its flagship operation, Los Pelambres, has relatively low costs and could double capacity by 2020, while its Esperanza copper-gold project could be expanded by 2016 to nearly triple production. Its Chile-focused [...]
Kitty cat wins over awful rom com December 8, 2011 Film PUSS IN BOOTS Cert: U After the grouchy cash monster that was the Shrek series, Dreamworks has quite rightly laid the franchise to rest, instead focusing on the series’ most interesting character: a small cat who looks cute but kicks arse. It may well have been a disaster, but thankfully there are enough gags [...]
Look dazzling for your Xmas bash December 8, 2011 MOST of us get ready for festive bashes in the loos at work – after a crazy day. We certainly don’t have time to spare primping for mid-week dos. The key is having the outfit ready to go, but even more importantly, having the right makeup for instant glamour and shine. At the end of [...]
HOW TO GET DRESSED December 8, 2011 Founders of Rous Iland members’ Boutique www.rousiland.com Q. I’m now officially pasty white and feeling exhausted from too many parties, but there’s still over two weeks of a full social calendar before the year ends. How can I disguise my weariness and keep things exciting? A. If you’re already bored of your winter day-to-night ensembles, [...]
City to take big step towards title December 8, 2011 IT has been a rollercoaster couple of weeks for Andre Villas-Boas, but he will be delighted with consecutive 3-0 victories against Newcastle and Valencia. Consistency has been a major issue for Chelsea, though, and they face a stern test at home on Monday night against Manchester City. The West London side have lost a disappointing [...]
Sunnyhillboy on an attractive mark with McCoy in the saddle December 8, 2011 PAUL Nicholls needs just one more winner at Cheltenham over the next two days to make it 150 at the home of National Hunt racing and looking at today’s card, it might not take him that long to reach such an historic landmark. In fact, he has every chance of landing the main betting event [...]
Premier Farnell sales dip December 8, 2011 British electronic parts distributor Premier Farnell reported a slight dip in third-quarter sales, and said it remained cautious on the global economic outlook. “The quarter’s profit was in line with our expectations, compared with last year’s strong performance,” the company said. “Although we remain cautious on the global economic outlook, the business has responded well [...]
Standard Chartered forecasts 10pc profits rise December 8, 2011 Standard Chartered Bank has said that it expects pretax profit to rise by at least 10 per cent this year to another record, helped by a strong performance in emerging markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Net interest margins were also expected to rise from 2010 levels, it said in a filing to the [...]
