CITY MOVES| WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS December 1, 2010 HSBC HSBC?has announced the appointment of Hossam Alsaady as head of its Saudi Arabia team within the London-based Middle East and North Africa division of its private banking business. Alsaady is moving over from his role at NCB Capital in Jeddah, where he has held several senior positions, most recently head of strategy. At HSBC, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 1, 2010 SAB MILLER Nomura rates the brewer “reduce” with a target price of £19.75. The broker has continued concerns about the US beer market, and that planned investment in marketing and IT would hold back any increase in margins. Nomura notes SAB’s recent claim that revenue growth would be around two per cent, slightly below earlier [...]
UK superfast broadband take-up lags December 1, 2010 THE UK has the worst take-up of superfast broadband of any major developed nation, new research by the communications watchdog has revealed. Just 0.2 per cent of people in the UK have access to broadband speeds of 30Mbits a second or higher. This compares to 34.4 per cent of people in Japan, 12 per cent [...]
RBS finalises WorldPay sale December 1, 2010 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) finalised the sale of its WorldPay business yesterday, while new owners Advent International and Bain Capital pledged to invest £200m in the payment processing firm. The EU-enforced sale of the £2bn business, agreed in August, leaves RBS with a 20 per cent stake in the company. Advent and Bain promised [...]
Thomas Cook profits dip in tough market December 1, 2010 HOLIDAY operator Thomas Cook yesterday said it would slash costs by up to £50m after a “demanding” year that saw profits come in at the lower end of expectations. Profit before tax fell six per cent compared to 2009 to £277m, while revenues were down four per cent to £8.89bn. The UK and US markets [...]
Aegis snaps up Russian rival December 1, 2010 MEDIA group Aegis yesterday expanded its presence in Russia by snapping up a majority stake in the country’s biggest independent market research business. Aegis acquired Comcon through Synovate, its market research group, for an undisclosed amount. According to the terms of the deal, it could acquire the remainder of the business in 2015. Comcon, which [...]
Anite buoyed by strong mobile market recovery December 1, 2010 SOFTWARE testing firm Anite yesterday announced its first half pre tax profits soared 160 per cent to £6.5m. Its revenue jumped 20 per cent to £42.3m. It also hiked its interim dividend five per cent to 0.315p per share. It was buoyed by a market-led recovery in both its handsets and networks divisions but saw [...]
Numis full-year profits up 87 per cent as it adds new clients and capabilities December 1, 2010 INVESTMENT banker and broker Numis has strengthened its position, reporting improved profits as well as growing its client portfolio, it reported in its full-year results yesterday. Operating revenues rose nine per cent to £51.9m, from £47.5m the previous year, and profit before tax grew 87 per cent to £7.9m from £4.2m, excluding one-off charges relating [...]
BBC to launch commercial version of iPlayer on iPad December 1, 2010 THE BBC yesterday announced it will launch a global commercial version of its iPlayer TV-on-demand platform through a subscription service on the iPad. A BBC spokesman told City A.M. the iPad app will launch in the second quarter of 2011. It is expected to be followed by a full online roll out which will offer [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THOMAS COOK’S RESULTS? December 1, 2010 KEVIN BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Despite a year that investors and management will want to forget, Thomas Cook continues to receive the benefit of the doubt. Costs in more mature markets continue to be targeted, while sales expansion in emerging markets provide future growth prospects, and winter bookings offer further cheer. NICK BATRAM | PEEL [...]
