Marriott’s warning sparks retail fears March 28, 2011 US stocks fell yesterday as the corporate outlook was clouded ahead of earnings and uncertainty continued to creep from abroad, while volume hit its lowest level of the year. A warning from hotel operator Marriott International hurt hotel and other consumer shares, amid expectations of other negative corporate earnings pre-announcements. “Corporations now have several excuses [...]
Micro Focus to buy back up to £60m of its shares March 28, 2011 Software giant Micro Focus announced yesterday it will undertake a share buy-back programme. Its shares closed up 2.7 per cent higher at 317p after the news it will claw back up to £60m of its stock. According to a statement the company can buy shares at a maximum five per cent above the average price [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DOES THE TRADING UPDATE MEAN FOR DMGT? March 28, 2011 PATRICK YAU | PEEL HUNT DMGT has issued a broadly in line trading update for the first-half of the year. As expected, the business-to-business operation continues to perform well; with national press holding its own in a market under pressure; but regional press continues to struggle, with performance year to date deteriorating. further. LORNA TILBIAN [...]
Facebook may hire Obama aide March 28, 2011 Social networking giant Facebook is understood to be in talks to hire former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs for a senior post. Gibbs, once one of President Barack Obama’s closest aides, could be drafted in to help manage communications in advance of an initial public offering (IPO) planned for early next year. It is [...]
Nokia jumps on Goldman note March 28, 2011 Shares in embattled telecoms giant Nokia rose yesterday after Goldman Sachs upgraded its investment rating on its shares to “buy” from “neutral”. Goldman Sachs said Nokia’s shares offered long-term opportunity for value after falling around 30 per cent from early February when the firm decided to dump its Symbian software platform in favour of Microsoft’s [...]
Skrill prices its IPO March 28, 2011 Online payments provider Skrill plans to sell shares at between 235p to 335p in a London listing to raise up to £184m, two people close to the deal said yesterday. The IPO, which is expected to be completed in the week beginning 11 April, will see £80m of new shares sold and £80m of shares [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 28, 2011 Ambition UK Simon Lynch has been appointed as managing director of Ambition UK, the London arm of the boutique recruitment business. Lynch has worked at Ambition since November 2010, having joined as a director in the firm’s Hong Kong office. Previously, Lynch spent 11 years with Michael Page International, where he led the national technology [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 28, 2011 BSKYB Nomura rates the media group “buy” with a target price of 828p. The broker hopes the firm’s results next month will show resilience in the face of an almost unprecedented UK consumer slowdown, following strong performance in the last two years. Nomura expects an 8.7 per cent rise in revenue to £1.64bn for the [...]
The boss of the UK’s largest broker sees a long road back to recovery March 28, 2011 The chief executive of the UK’s largest independent stockbroker Collins Stewart takes a deep breath and thinks for a moment. After a pause, Mark Brown, who is sitting in his large modern office with floor-to-ceiling views of the City, says: “I think we are about halfway towards getting the firm back to where it should [...]
Episode seven: telling Noel about the twins March 28, 2011 WE sit opposite Noel. I can see his skinny, bruised legs dangling, swinging beneath the table. He looks about, avoiding our eyes. The restaurant is empty. It’s barely midday. I realise Noel is anxious. He knows that something is afoot. I take a deep breath. We’ve done our reading, discussed our strategy and sketched out [...]
