Nationwide grows despite tough market May 25, 2011 NATIONWIDE Building Society gained market share and grew underlying profits by almost a third in the past year despite ongoing housing market stagnation, it said yesterday. Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building society, turned a £276m underlying profit in the year to April, up from £212m in April 2010, against a backdrop of low growth in [...]
Suitors sweeten up offers for the state-owned Tote May 25, 2011 LAST-ditch efforts by the bidders for the Tote, the state-owned bookmaker, have been made, as the government gears up to reveal its preferred offer. High street bookmaker Betfred has sweetened its offer for the betting pool, after it appeared to have lost out to a bid from former Liverpool Football Club chairman Sir Martin Broughton. [...]
Sage starts the search for its second broker May 25, 2011 SAGE, the business software and services group, has invited banks to apply to become its second broker alongside Deutsche Bank. The group, which has recently been the subject of takeover speculation, is one of the only FTSE 100 companies to have just one broker advising it. A number of banks are believed to be interested [...]
RETURN TO SENDER: ROYAL MAIL SPINNER POSTS P45 TO ITV’S PR May 25, 2011 ALL GOOD things come to an end, and so it is that ITV is parting company with Tulchan, its financial public relations adviser of four years, The Capitalist can reveal. The commercial broadcaster, whose new press chief is former Independent and Sunday Telegraph journalist Mary Fagan, has told Tulchan it wants a regime change among [...]
DP World set for its London debut in June May 25, 2011 DUBAI-BASED ports operator DP World said yesterday it expects to list shares on the London Stock Exchange on 1 June, as it seeks to boost its liquidity by attracting a wider range of investors than from its listing on Nasdaq Dubai almost four years ago. DP World shareholders earlier this month approved a one-for-20 share [...]
Esure founder meets banks to discuss a float May 25, 2011 PETER Wood, chairman of UK motor insurer Esure, has been meeting investment banks to discuss its path to a stock market flotation, the company confirmed yesterday. Wood, an insurance industry sage who founded Direct Line in 1985 and Esure in 2000, has met bankers for very early stage talks over listing it on the London [...]
Zynga eyes market float May 25, 2011 SOCIAL games designer Zynga could file for a multi-billion dollar IPO as soon as next month. It is understood the firm is eager to cash in on the vociferous investor appetite for technology stocks following the bumper flotation of LinkedIn last week. The professional social network saw its shares surge 171 per cent during its [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS THERE IS A NEW DOT.COM BUBBLE? May 25, 2011 DEEPAK MALIK | AVIVA “I think possibly, yes. Companies such as LinkedIn are valued very highly and it’s not justifiable. It will be interesting to see what other websites such as Facebook and Twitter are valued at.” WARREN CAMPBELL | JUBILEE “I think there is but it’s not going to be as devastating as it [...]
CWC tumbles on tough Caribbean May 25, 2011 CABLE & Wireless Communications (CWC) yesterday saw its shares tumble over 11 per cent after it admitted conditions in its core Caribbean market were tougher than expected. The company’s shares closed at 42.41p – their lowest level since its demerger from the former Cable & Wireless Group in 2009. Full-year revenue at the firm rose [...]
Google set to launch mobile payments May 25, 2011 GOOGLE will today unveil its first “mobile wallet” technology that turns your phone into a touch-payment system. Google’s VP of commerce and payments Stephanie Tilenius said: “We’re making a big bet on it as a company. There is a lot of potential there.” It is understood the service, known as Near Field Communication (NFC), will [...]
