O2 finance boss left in the dark over 4G auction February 25, 2013 THERE were billions of pounds at stake as O2 went up against Vodafone and EE in the recent auction of the 4G mobile spectrum. Therefore one would expect that O2’s chief financial officer would be keeping a keen eye on the purse strings during the proceedings. However, as the company’s management spent a tense January [...]
Top spin doctors’ PR firm hit by defections over owner strategy February 25, 2013 SIGNS of exodus yesterday at M Communications, the top flight financial public relations agency founded by City veterans Nick Miles and Hugh Morrison. According to insiders, five senior people handed in their resignations, unhappy about the way the agency’s profits are being distributed. Insiders told The Capitalist last night that M, with annual revenues of [...]
Best of the Brokers February 25, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BREWIN DOLPHIN Canaccord Genuity has raised its rating on the asset manager to “buy” and boosted its target price to 230p. The broker thinks Brewin delivers a high cash return on invested capital and maintains a good momentum, and sees earnings and the [...]
UK share boost is tempered by Italian election February 25, 2013 LONDON REPORT UK shares shed all of their early gains yesterday as projected Italian election results suggested a clear-cut winner was unlikely to emerge, diminishing the prospects for a stable government. Early exit polls suggesting a healthy lead for a centre-left coalition led by Pier Luigi Bersani in both houses of parliament were confounded by [...]
US stocks drop on fears over European debt February 25, 2013 NEW YORK REPORT US stocks yesterday suffered their biggest drop since November after a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country’s economic reforms triggered worry Europe’s debt problems could again destabilise the global economy. The decline marks the biggest percentage drop for the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 7 [...]
Simpler energy tariffs will worsen fuel poverty and harm innovation February 25, 2013 DAVID CAMERON has backed proposals by the regulator Ofgem to simplify energy tariffs. Under the new scheme, suppliers will be restricted to offering no more than four tariffs for each type of fuel, and customers will be put on their supplier’s lowest variable rate unless they choose otherwise. But will these proposals help customers with [...]
Misguided calls for further stimulus misunderstand Britain’s downgrade February 25, 2013 FRONTLINE ECONOMICS BRITAIN’S downgrade became inevitable on 29 November 2011. Before then, the chancellor was committed to eliminating the structural deficit within five years, and to getting net debt as a proportion of GDP falling by 2015. But new forecasts, presented on that day’s Autumn Statement, indicated that he wouldn’t achieve the first target on [...]
Why the coalition may hope for Ukip victory in Eastleigh February 25, 2013 THE Eastleigh by-election is looking like a turning point for the coalition. Opinion polls suggest the Lib Dems were just about ahead of the Conservatives going into the weekend, with Ukip surging rapidly into third. But that was before most Conservative voters had the chance to reflect upon the loss of Britain’s AAA rating – [...]
Letters to the Editor February 25, 2013 Rating Loss [Re: Loss of UK’s AAA rating will intensify the pressure on sterling, yesterday] The loss of the AAA rating may be symbolic, and markets may not consider it a disaster, but it symbolises the decline of Britain as a confident economic power. Medium-term growth forecasts are depressed, and nothing is being done to reverse [...]
Moody’s blues already anticipated by markets February 25, 2013 The loss of the UK’s AAA has shocked nobody WHEN Moody’s stripped the UK of its AAA rating on Friday, few were surprised. It is a move that the markets had been anticipating for months, and the lack of any significant market reaction shows just how much the decision had already been priced in. From [...]
