Tory grandee backs farm firm flotation June 12, 2011 A FARMING firm with links to former Tory cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind is to float in a joint London and Dublin stock market listing. Continental Farmers Group, an Isle of Man based agricultural firm that primarily operates in Eastern Europe, is to list on London’s alternative investment market (Aim). The company, valued at about [...]
SFO fosters City ties with latest hire June 12, 2011 INVESTMENT fund chairman Simon Duckworth has joined the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) as a non-executive director, in the latest move by the regulator to strengthen ties with the City. Duckworth, who chairs Barings Targeted Return Fund and holds non-executive positions at Fidelity European Values and Aim-listed IT security firm Accumuli, will join the SFO on [...]
Demand for e-books hits new heights June 12, 2011 THE booming demand for smartphones and tablets is fuelling an explosion in the consumption of paid-for online media. The biggest growth area is e-books, with the number of consumers doubling and the average monthly spend rising to almost the level of digital music, according to a new study by KPMG. Smartphone ownership has jumped by [...]
Why Greece should default and exit the euro June 12, 2011 FOR the Eurozone to not only survive but thrive Greece must default and leave. Athens fiddled the numbers to get in and now reality has firmly caught it up. An exit is the best option for the Greek people and it is the best option for the euro. Why now delay the inevitable? The single [...]
Lloyds may shed 15,000 jobs as part of far-reaching savings plan June 12, 2011 LLOYDS could cut up to 15,000 jobs as part of a new £1bn cost-saving plan. Whole layers of management could be stripped out of the bank, with hundreds of jobs likely to go at its head office and thousands of posts to be cut across the UK and in its remaining international outposts. Lloyds, which [...]
South American partnerships boost the City June 12, 2011 WITH just over one year to go until the Olympic Games, excitement is building across the capital as we prepare to welcome the world on our doorstep in a unique sporting, cultural and business extravaganza. And while I am utterly convinced London 2012 will be a resounding success, one country has just as much – [...]
Prada squeezes underwriters June 12, 2011 Italian fashion house Prada has proved to be a tough customer for underwriters of its up to $2.6bn (£1.6bn) initial public offering (IPO), having capped the overall commission at 1.9 per cent of the total offer – making it among the lowest fees paid in recent Hong Kong IPOs. Prada revealed in its prospectus released [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 12, 2011 TESCO Evolution Securities rates the supermarket “sell” with a target price of 375p. The broker expects to see 7.5 per cent growth in group turnover when Tesco reports first quarter figures on Tuesday, with international gains making up for flat underlying UK like-for-like sales. Evo thinks Tesco is underperforming the UK market and has concerns [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 12, 2011 Religare Capital Markets The investment banking and institutional securities arm of emerging markets financial services group Religare Capital Markets has appointed John Sturmey as global head of equity capital markets. Sturmey joins from UBS where he was Head of the Global Capital Markets Group in Asia, overseeing equity and debt capital markets. Sturmey will concentrate [...]
FTSE starts on back foot heading into inflation data June 12, 2011 EUROPE’S stock markets are going to struggle this morning against a strong headwind set by the Dow Jones Industrial index on Friday, closing as it did below the psychologically significant 12,000 level. GFT quotes two-way prices on stock indices around the clock, even when the underlying markets are closed, but this morning’s open is looking [...]
