BEST OF THE BROKERS August 4, 2009 RECKITT BENCKISEREvolution Securities maintains its “Add” recommendation for household and health provider Reckitt Benckiser and raises its price target for the shares to 3,050p. Despite forecasted profit losses in the next year, the broker sees a strong new product pipeline and focus on volume growth as spelling encouraging progression. MARKS & SPENCERGoldman Sachs predicts significant [...]
Electricity demand has hit a new low, according to Drax August 4, 2009 POWER station operator Drax said yesterday that the downturn had triggered an “unprecedented” slump in demand for electricity, as the group reported a dramatic slump in its first half earnings. Chief executive Dorothy Thompson said the fall off in power requirements had been much sharper than contraction in the broader economy. “For our sector it’s [...]
Xstrata gains bid support August 4, 2009 LARGER-than-life Xstrata boss Mick Davies yesterday said he had investor backing from the mining giant’s largest shareholder in its proposed £26bn merger with Anglo American. Glencore International is “very supportive” of the nil-premium merger, Davies said. The chief executive added that the company had no intention of altering the terms of the proposed marriage. Davies [...]
BOTTLING IT August 4, 2009 DRINKS giant PepsiCo yesterday said it had secured a $7.8bn deal to take over its its two largest bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas. The group said that the takeover will save it £300m by 2012. PepsiCo is battling slumping sales as consumers are increasingly cutting out fizzy drinks. PepsiCo will pay Pepsi Bottling Group [...]
Observer fate will be known by autumn as losses mount August 4, 2009 The fate of The Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, could be revealed within months, as parent company Guardian Media Group (GMG) mulls ways to control its losses. GMG chief executive Carolyn McCall has confirmed in an internal email that the closure of the 218-year old weekly is an option that a panel of senior [...]
TAX CODE THREATENS UK BANKING August 4, 2009 ARABELLA SAKERPARTNER, MAURICE TURNOR GARDNER LLPHM Revenue & Customs recently published a consultation on a new code of practice on taxation for banks, setting out new rules with which banks are expected to comply “in light of the significant taxpayer support” that has been given to the industry. Although voluntary, banks which don’t sign up [...]
The firm that has risen above the Magic Circle August 4, 2009 THE Magic Circle model is in need of a re-engineering.” In light of recent revelations about the impact of the economic downturn on City law firms, that statement might not qualify as controversial. However, it’s noteworthy because it is a view espoused by Nigel Knowles, co-chief executive of DLA Piper, the newly-anointed “biggest law firm [...]
OPTIMISM IN THE POUND IS MISPLACED August 4, 2009 BORIS SCHLOSSBERGDIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT BY ANY reasonable measure the recent rally in the pound appears to be overdone. The UK economy is still in the midst of the worst recession in the post-war era. The UK fiscal budget deficit is projected to exceed 12 per cent of GDP – the highest among all [...]
A drop in stocks and a rise in QE will undermine sterling’s rally August 4, 2009 IN THE face of a ballooning fiscal deficit, quantitative easing and the deepest recession since the Second World War, sterling rose to a nine-month high against the dollar of $1.7005 in Asian trading yesterday morning. And against the euro, it is just shy of the June highs of €0.8426. It’s hard to believe that as [...]
Small but perfectly formed August 4, 2009 THE FACTS:MINI JCW CONVERTIBLE6-SPEEDMANUAL PRICE: £23,4700-62MPH: 6.9secsTOP SPEED: 146mph (limited)CO2 G/KM: 169g/kmMPG COMBINED: 39.8 THE Met office came in for flak last week after admitting its forecast for a “barbecue summer” was just a little wide of the mark. Darn that jet stream. Well, I’ve come to learn during my road-testing years that waiting for [...]
