Low & Bonar results impress February 7, 2012 Shares in Low & Bonar jump as much as 12 per cent to touch a four-month high yesterday, after the supplier of yarn, fabric, and fibre reported better-than-expected full year pre-tax profit, boosted by new product sales and a higher contribution from emerging markets. Revenues at the group rose 13 per cent year-on-year to £388.7m, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 7, 2012 Qatar Financial Centre Authority Bob Wigley, chairman of Yell Group and former chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe, Middle East and Africa, has been appointed as a non-executive director of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. In the new role, Wigley, who was appointed as an ambassador for UK business by David Cameron in 2011, will promote [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 7, 2012 HALFORDS Panmure Gordon has upgraded the car and bicycle parts retailer from “hold” to “buy” and raised its target price to 375p from 300p, despite downgrading its pre-tax profit forecasts by eight and 10 per cent respectively for the next two years. The upgrade is made on the basis that the broker expects Halfords to [...]
The Eurozone is almost out of options – taxpayers must prepare to take their losses February 7, 2012 OVER the last few weeks, negotiations over a potential write-down of Greece’s debt have taken us here and there, and back again – and at the time of writing, they remain unresolved. But whatever the outcome of the talks between the Greek government and its creditors, let’s not forget the bigger picture – ultimately, the [...]
The EU’s war on planes leaves UK trade grounded February 7, 2012 WE ARE witnessing the opening skirmishes of a trade war between the EU and the rest of the world. This is unnecessary, costly for the European economy, and self-defeating. How did we get here? Under European law, an airline (wherever based) which operates flights that take off or land in the EU must, from next [...]
More laws won’t make markets more efficient February 7, 2012 THE “clean government” bill bans American politicians from using their inside information for personal profit, for example, by trading securities. It passed the Senate last week by a vote of 96 to 3. Which is a pity. Prohibitions on insider trading should not be extended; they should be repealed, not only in America but everywhere. [...]
RAPID RESPONSES February 7, 2012 Fair play on funds Regarding the True & Fair campaign [Join our campaign to fight fund managers’ high fees and lack of transparency, last Wednesday]. I’m all in favour of lower fees and more disclosure on costs. When choosing pension funds at the moment investors are told how much future income would be provided under [...]
A feast fit for a king to raise money for our real heroes February 7, 2012 The City’s hottest dinner ticket – the Square Mile Salute – is almost upon us again: and this year the organisers are hoping even to surpass last year’s fantastic evening. The charity event will see a bakers’ dozen of the country’s finest chefs prepare amazing canapés and caviar and an unbeatable six course feast accompanied [...]
PICK OF THE AUCTION LOTS February 7, 2012 Skiing with Franz Klammer Four days skiing next winter in the premier skiing locations in Italian, German and Austrian Alps, hosted and personally guided by Olympic Champion Franz Klammer. Five Nights on Albany in the Bahamas Trip of a lifetime. The resort that is the vision of Tavistock Group and golfing legends Tiger Woods and [...]
Making the Olympics a laboratory for new ways to sell a global brand February 7, 2012 COUNTDOWN TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES 170 DAYS TO GO GlaxoSmithKline’s head of global brand communication tells City A.M. why 2012 is win-win for GSK Q.what was your brand’s primary reason for being involved with the games? A.As a key British company, we really want to make sure that we can do whatever we [...]
