Chinese Origo funds dip in value August 6, 2012 Chinese private equity investors Origo Partners, which is listed in London, reported a 4.8 per cent dip in its portfolio values yesterday, falling to $227.7m (£149.5m) over the quarter as waning commodity prices dented its mining investments. The firm, based in Beijing but listed on the Alternative Investment Market, saw a drop in net asset [...]
Cognizant defies Indian tech gloom August 6, 2012 Tech consultancy firm Cognizant stood by its full-year revenue forecast yesterday at a time when its Indian peers have been painting a gloomy picture due to slowing global outsourcing spending. Cognizant, which is based in New Jersey but conducts most of its operations in India, said it had become the second biggest tech consultancy in [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 6, 2012 Riverview Law Paul Bird has been appointed finance director at the law firm. He joins from Pearson Education, where he was finance director and company secretary at its subsidiary, Education Development International. UBS Global Asset Management Stephen Hutton has been appointed head of UK wholesale at the asset management firm. He joins from Zurich Intermediary, [...]
BEST of the BROKERS August 6, 2012 HMV Seymour Pierce maintains its “sell” recommendation with a target price of 1p for the music and entertainment business, based on fierce market competition and the swift loss of both its chief exec and finance director. ASTRAZENECA UBS lists the pharma giant as one of its top picks, along with Novartis, and predicts the generics [...]
FTSE climbs to 5,800 as investors bet on eventual ECB intervention August 6, 2012 CYCLICALS lifted Britain’s top shares above 5,800 points for the first time since May yesterday as investors bet on eventual European Central Bank action to curb high peripheral bond yields, although low volumes showed not everyone was convinced. The FTSE 100 extended gains from last week, helped by strong performances in mining and energy, although [...]
US stocks end at highest for three months August 6, 2012 US stocks closed at three-month highs for the second day in a row yesterday, extending last week’s rally on the hope for more assistance for the troubled Eurozone. The S&P 500 rose to its highest point since early May, but pared its gains going into the close. The benchmark index also failed to breach 1,400, [...]
MARKETING CAMPAIGN OF THE YEAR August 6, 2012 A SUCCESSFUL campaign has the power to become one with the company it advertises, to end up as iconic as the brand it represents. The final shortlist for City A.M.’s marketing campaign of the year award attempts to portray a snapshot of advertising in the last year, showcasing a range of themes, designs, products and [...]
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRM OF THE YEAR August 6, 2012 TODAY’s shortlists for the third annual City A.M. awards kick off with our nominations for professional services firm of the year. The UK and EU may be planning significant shake-ups to the industry, but the firms on our shortlist aren’t letting that worry them, continuing to win bluechip clients, pursue global expansion and pioneer employment [...]
You can bank on Tesco to become competitive in financial services August 6, 2012 TESCO has had a challenging 2012 to date. We saw the rebasing of group earnings in January; an unwelcome slowdown in trading at loss-making Fresh & Easy in the US; decelerating trading conditions in Central Europe; and impacts from restrictions on large store opening hours in South Korea – its most significant market outside the [...]
Seven minutes of terror: Why Mars is the next frontier in the search for life August 6, 2012 NASA’S latest Mars explorer has landed on the Red Planet – and so have I (or at least my name has). The Mars Science Laboratory, known as Curiosity, carried a microchip with the names of its mission supporters, of which I am one. This was my fourth landing on Mars, as I also landed with [...]
