Bottom Line: A good deal for all but still far too much in state hands September 16, 2013 DID LARRY Summers and Vladimir Putin conspire to save the Lloyds reprivatisation? This unlikely pair have blown away the macro clouds that just ten days ago were threatening a delay. With neither Syrian escalation nor market turmoil from a tapering Fed looking so alarming, UKFI has seized the day. It was only a matter of [...]
Losses at French Connection but CEO still upbeat September 16, 2013 FRENCH Connection reported slightly reduced first half losses yesterday, as the British fashion retailer continues its attempted turnaround following years of underperformance. Losses fell to £6.1m, compared to £6.3m in 2012, results which chairman and chief executive Stephen Marks said are encouraging. “We have continued to implement significant changes across the business and our new [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of French Connection’s financial results? September 16, 2013 FREDDIE GEORGE | CANTOR FITZGERALDThe interim results for six months ended 31 July were broadly in-line with expectation. Pre-tax losses declined from £6.3m to £6.1m on sales down 6.4 per cent to £89.9m. The company has also announced several store closures in the UK. We maintain our “hold” recommendation. NICK BUBB | INDEPENDENT RETAIL ANALYSTDespite [...]
H&M on the rise during August September 16, 2013 HIGH street clothes giant H&M yesterday beat expectations to deliver like-for-like sales growth of four per cent for August in stores open at least one year. The retailer, which has lucrative clothing tie-ups with stars including Beyonce, saw shares jump to a record high after reporting total sales were up 14 per cent in local [...]
Correction: Queensway September 16, 2013 City A.M. reported yesterday that the Sultan of Brunei had invested £500m on purchasing properties in Queensway as part of a regeneration project. In fact, a private Brunei family is behind the investment and not the Sultan. We apologise for the error.
Partnerships to face a Treasury tax crackdown September 16, 2013 DANNY Alexander will today announce plans to close tax loopholes used by many partnerships, in a move aides said is targeted at Britain’s top accountancy firms. The Treasury secretary will also tell the Liberal Democrat conference in Glasgow that he will stop private equity businesses abusing complex tax laws to pay tax at the 20p [...]
Liberal Democrats narrowly back the 45p top rate of income tax September 16, 2013 LIBERAL Democrat members yesterday said they wanted to keep the top rate of income tax at 45p – but only by a tiny majority. Activists voted by 224 to 220 to back the government's decision to abolish the 50p rate, in a major victory for leader Nick Clegg, who had been expected to lose the [...]
Boris brother signs off Tory abuse September 16, 2013 Lib Dem ministers have been peppering their speeches to conference with attacks on the Conservatives and half-hearted jokes at the expense of their coalition colleagues – most of which have struggled to raise a laugh even among the party faithful. But the Tories knew it was coming – because Conservative MP Jo Johnson, brother of [...]
Email error turns yellows red September 16, 2013 Journalists couldn’t decide whether it was a clever ploy or an embarrassing mistake when the Lib Dem press office sent a confidential briefing note to its entire mailing list. The document, first published on City A.M.’s website, armed MPs with punchy soundbites like “the party is in a confident mood”. But it also included a [...]
Cable backs the good book September 16, 2013 After David Cameron compared business secretary Vince Cable to Jeremiah, the old testament prophet who was constantly warning of impending doom, aides were quick to fight back – until Bloomberg’s Rob Hutton pointed out that the part of the scripture that everyone forgets is that Jeremiah was right. A day later and Cable took to [...]
