CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 16, 2011 The Crown Estate Ian Marcus has been appointed as a non-executive of The Crown Estate, effective from 1 January 2012. Marcus is currently chairman of European real estate investment banking at Credit Suisse, chairman of the Bank of England Commercial Property Forum, and chairman of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust. Previous roles have included president of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 16, 2011 WHITBREAD Analysts at UBS say Costa and Premier Inn owner Whitbread, which reports first half results tomorrow, is its most preferred stock in the leisure and tobacco sector. The investment bank is forecasting revenues of £889m, ebitda of £183m, and earnings per share of 69.6p. Whitbread’s restaurants continue to drag down on growth but Costa [...]
G20 and US earnings set to be positive catalysts October 16, 2011 AREVIVAL in hopes that the Eurozone crisis can and will be contained will continue to spur stocks higher this morning. The mood of the market certainly seems to be leaning towards the positive, and that will likely be reinforced by news from Paris at the weekend that the G20 have agreed that the IMF should [...]
WALL STREET WEEK AHEAD October 16, 2011 THE coming week is likely to be crucial for the direction of financial markets until year-end, with Eurozone stability at stake as well as the latest test of the one bright spot for investors, corporate earnings. In the case of the Eurozone, there is talk of a “binary” moment next weekend in which a European [...]
Debt weighs on owner of AA and Saga October 16, 2011 THE owner of Saga and the AA, Acromas, lost almost £500m last year as the interest payments on its massive debt pile took their toll. Acromas, taken private in June 2007 for £6.3bn by Charterhouse, Permira and CVC, posted a £458m pre-tax loss during the 12 months ended January, 13.4 per cent narrower than a [...]
Aberdeen to pursue tax row with HMRC October 16, 2011 ABERDEEN Asset Management is taking its long-running £8m tax dispute to a new tribunal hearing. The claim, which attempts to overturn an £8m tax ruling related to an options scheme used to compensate chief executive Martin Gilbert and other senior staff, is expected to be heard before the Upper Tax Tribunal later this month. It [...]
Businesses need to plan for the Olympics if they want the summer to run smoothly October 16, 2011 London 2012 TIME TO GET READY THERE’S no general piece of advice.” I’m with Transport for London’s no-nonsense commissioner, Peter Hendy, and if he has one message he wants people to grasp about public transport during next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is that every day and every part of town will be different. [...]
DOWNTON’S CREATOR IN NEW DRAMA AT NOMURA October 16, 2011 SUNDAYS have taken on new meaning for Nomura’s joint head of global equities Benoit Savoret, ever since Downton Abbey returned to the nation’s screens. So let’s hope the twists and turns of the First World War drama haven’t been spoiled for Savoret and his colleagues William Vereker, Paul Spanswick and Brett Olsen, after Nomura’s senior [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK October 16, 2011 NO MATTER that Gracechurch Street is 53 miles from the sea – Loch Fyne still aims to serve “the freshest seafood you will find anywhere”. A big claim, and one that six stockbrokers were keen to put to the test when they visited the seafood restaurant that started life as a small oyster shack in [...]
Why unpaid internships are a good thing – they help the young get a foot in the door October 16, 2011 MY COMPANY is currently looking for an intern (don’t all apply at once). The reason is simple. We have a job that needs doing that we cannot get our clients to pay us for and, in the current climate, we cannot afford to pay an experienced person to do it. The work we want doing [...]
