Blockbuster puts Euro arm up for sale March 14, 2010 FILM rental chain Blockbuster has put its European arm up for sale, it emerged yesterday. The indebted US company wants to sell its European division, which it values at about £50m, to raise cash, a report said. Blockbuster has hired corporate finance house Winchester Capital to find a buyer for the European arm, which has [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 14, 2010 HOME RETAIL GROUP Charles Stanley said the group’s fourth quarter trading update covering the eight weeks to 27 February was mixed. Trading was impacted by poor weather in January, but the impact on profits has been limited as the period is traditionally a low volume one. The broker remains cautious especially over the growing threat [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 14, 2010 Coutts Private Office Rupert Allison has joined Coutts Private Office as senior client partner from after three years with HSBC private bank as a relationship manager/ director. At Coutts, Allison will advise high-net-worth individuals whose assets top £30m and will report to global head of Coutts private office, Duncan McIntyre. Allison also spent 15 years [...]
Cannes awaits property fest March 14, 2010 THIS week sees the heavyweights of the property world embark on their annual pilgrimage to Cannes for MIPIM, Europe’s largest property fair. The four day event – known for its yachts and late night parties – is likely to be more upbeat than last year when the property market was still in the midst of [...]
Plus markets to launch fixed income securities products March 14, 2010 PLUS markets, the retail-focused small and mid-cap stock exchange, will launch trade reporting for fixed income securities following calls for the product from private investors. The move is meant to give retail investors a cost effective way to access fixed income securities such as UK gilts and corporate bonds. Rachel Maguire, Business Development Director at [...]
ECKOH THE NEW VOICE OF FUNDRAISING March 14, 2010 ECKOH, the speech recognition supplier, has landed a two-year contract with charity Comic Relief as the sole provider of interactive voice response services for fundraising campaigns including Sport Relief 2010 and Red Nose Day 2011. Eckoh will provide the charity with a number of services, including real time card payment processing.
Markets should get off to a good start March 14, 2010 European stock markets are headed for a mildly positive start to the week, cautious ahead of some key events which could lure the markets out of their current tight trading ranges. GFT is forecasting the UK’s FTSE 100 to open up 11 points from Friday’s close, at around 5,637. The German DAX is expected to [...]
Middle East up as Dubai World debt plan imminent March 14, 2010 Dubai’s index made its largest daily gain for three months yesterday as investors bet on a Dubai World debt offer favourable to creditors. Other Middle East markets rose, buoyed by firm oil prices and positive global sentiment. Dubai World is about to present a plan on repaying £17bn in debt linked to its main property [...]
Triple witching can cause toil and trouble in the markets March 14, 2010 LONDON might no longer hold the prestigious title of the world’s leading financial centre – it only managed to tie with New York in a report by the City of London Corporation that was released on Friday – but Britain’s FTSE 100 is leading the markets’ march higher. Traders might have been cheering Wall Street’s [...]
Mergers can give you stellar profits March 14, 2010 THE financial rumour mill went into overdrive on Friday after whisperings that Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, the global media group, was thinking about buying back BSkyB, the broadcaster he helped to found in 1990. It was mooted that Murdoch might even be willing to pay up to 735p per share, a 20 [...]
