Analyst Views: Do Supergroup’s first quarter figures bode well for the rest of the year? September 5, 2013 ANDREW FITCHIEINVESTEC Retail like-for-likes of 8.5 per cent is strong, although is against relatively weak comparatives. Wholesale performance was equally encouraging…Given 2014 is a year of investment and we are still early in the year, we are making no changes to our forecasts at this stage, however we view the performance as an encouraging start. [...]
Expansion boosts Belvoir sales September 5, 2013 Belvoir Lettings, the estate agency that floated on Aim last year, posted a 35 per cent rise in half-year revenues yesterday to £2.5m after making a string of acquisitions and bolstering its presence in London and the south east. Belvoir runs 142 franchised offices across the UK and aims to grow to 200 by 2016. [...]
Skanska exits UK housebuilding September 5, 2013 Skanska UK is to close its housebuilding arm as it looks to focus on other more profitable parts of the business, just two years after it was launched. Roger Bayliss, the Swedish firm’s UK vice president said yesterday that the other markets such as construction and commercial development were providing better returns than its housebuilding [...]
Class action vs BoA rejected in US September 5, 2013 A lawsuit accusing Bank of America of reneging on promises to help distressed homeowners modify their mortgage loans, and instead driving them into foreclosure, cannot proceed as a class action, a federal judge ruled yesterday. While saying borrowers’ claims “may well be meritorious,” US district judge Rya Zobel said they were too different to justify [...]
Severn Trent not planning to raise bills before 2015 September 5, 2013 FTSE 100-listed utility firm Severn Trent yesterday said that it has decided not to ask the regulator Ofwat for an interim review of its 2010-2015 price limits and will absorb any extra costs without passing them onto the consumer. Severn Trent said these additional costs were in relation to the adoption of private drains and [...]
City Moves for 06 September 2013 | Who’s switching jobs September 5, 2013 Dentons The law firm has recruited Babette Marzheuser-Wood as a partner in its technology, media and telecommunications division. She joins from Field Fisher Waterhouse. Colliers International The commercial real estate services firm has appointed Simon Ford as a director in its corporate solutions team for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He joins from [...]
Best of the brokers for 06 September 2013 September 5, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com LAMPRELL Nomura has cut the oil services group from “neutral” to “reduce” and raised its target from 90p to 140p as part of a wider review of the sector. The broker thinks industry-wide earnings predictions for this year are around 15 per cent [...]
London Report: Banks lead FTSE to highest close in three weeks September 5, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index marked a three-week closing high yesterday as Lloyds led banks higher in the sector’s strongest session in two months. Lloyds jumped 2.9 per cent after both Bernstein and Morgan Stanley gave a target share price of 100p for the bank, currently trading at 73p, as the British government prepares for its [...]
New York Report: Wall St edges higher as data cheers investors September 5, 2013 US stocks edged up yesterday rising for a third day after strong data indicated improving economic conditions, with caution capping gains ahead of Friday’s payrolls report and its implication on the Federal Reserve’s stimulus program. Markets continue to deal with the possibility of a US-led strike against Syria, and US President Barack Obama faced growing [...]
Twitter complaint signals the start of a revolution for corporate reputations September 5, 2013 BRITISH Airways has just been exposed to the future of corporate communications. When one disgruntled passenger decided to complain about the quality of BA’s customer service, he ignored the traditional route of an angry call or email. Instead, he bought a promoted Tweet on Twitter – guaranteeing visual prominence for other users – to tell [...]
