Best of the Brokers November 13, 2012 TRIFAST After strong interim results Shore Capital has upgraded its forecasts for the mechanical fasteners maker, upping earnings estimates by four per cent for 2013. It has a “buy” rating and 43p target price. MAJESTIC WINE Ahead of interims on 19 November, Canaccord Genuity has a “buy” rating and 505p target price on the retailer, [...]
Investor hopes over possible Spain bailout prop up shares on the FTSE November 13, 2012 BRITAIN’S FTSE 100 share index closed up yesterday, recovering from an earlier two-month low in late trade on renewed hopes that Spain will ask for a bailout, a move which is seen as an essential step towards solving the Eurozone crisis. Spanish bond yields fell and its main bourse index rallied on the expectations that [...]
Retail bump fails to curb a fall on Wall St November 13, 2012 US stocks sold off late in the session yesterday, led by a slide in Microsoft shares, though retailers were a notable bright spot after Home Depot raised its outlook. Microsoft was the most actively traded on Nasdaq, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite after the surprising departure of a key executive. The stock fell 3.2 [...]
Why Metro Bank is flourishing in the low growth banking business November 13, 2012 WHEN we first opened Metro Bank’s doors in 2010, the prevailing response was that we were a little crazy. “How can you expect to drop into London and do something nobody’s done in more than 100 years: create a differentiated new bank model? It can’t be done!” But we knew that the UK banking market [...]
Psychology is lurking beneath every disappointing corporate merger November 13, 2012 INTERNATIONAL Airlines Group (IAG), formed in January 2011 through a merger between British Airways and Iberia, is in difficulty. Operating losses at IAG in the first nine months of 2012 were €169M (£135m). Shareholders have a right to feel disgruntled. They might question IAG’s revenue forecasting methods, and how realistic their projections have been. Or [...]
Failure to control inflation damages Britain’s recovery November 13, 2012 THE Bank of England sets interest rates to keep inflation low to preserve the value of your money,” reads the puff on the front page of the Bank’s website. But it’s done a poor job recently. The 2.7 per cent annual rise in the consumer prices index (CPI), announced yesterday, is better than last September’s [...]
Would Nick Clegg’s new proposals on flexible working be practical for a career in the City? November 13, 2012 YES Lynn Rattigan It’s not a divine right for parents to work flexibly. But flexible working should be an option afforded to everyone. And let’s be clear – reduced hours need not mean reduced commitment. All flexible working arrangements must start with a business conversation that balances the needs of the business, clients and teams [...]
Rapid responses November 13, 2012 Corporation tax [Re: How corporation tax myths poison the wider debate, yesterday] There is an assumption among many people that large multinationals exist solely to pay corporation tax. These companies aren’t seen as broadly useful businesses, which provide services and sources of employment to millions, but as a means of sourcing money for the government. [...]
A car you’ll be able to tell from Adam November 13, 2012 I’M STANDING in a hotel car park outside Lisbon and my head hurts. Forty different versions of Vauxhall’s new lifestyle city car, called Adam, are laid out in front of me and I’m not sure I particularly like the look of any of them. This, I suspect, is entirely the point – Vauxhall’s diminutive new [...]
Car talk November 13, 2012 The Caterham Seven Supersport The Caterham Seven Supersport is getting an even-more race-focused brother. The two-litre Supersport R boasts a bigger Ford Duratec engine, a five-speed gearbox and packs 180bhp. Developed over three years of Caterham’s R300 race championship, the car has hardcore track-bred dynamics, a bespoke steering wheel, composite race seats and four-point race [...]
