Brewin’s top of the league at Chelsea May 22, 2012 CITY investment management firm Brewin Dolphin’s garden at the Chelsea Flower Show has won a gold medal for being the best in the show, which is great news for those participating in the firm’s online charity auction. The auction, which will raise funds to help the fight against leukaemia, includes a prize that gives the [...]
Facebook brand image survives embarrassing float May 22, 2012 FACEBOOK, the world’s largest social networking site, has made headlines with its IPO, which has since turned sour. Earlier this month, founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that he would be leading a roadshow for Facebook in order to arouse interest on its soon-to-be available shares. On 18 May, the day of the IPO launch, Facebook began [...]
Digital boost not enough at Future May 22, 2012 Media agency Future said yesterday its digital revenues climbed 37 per cent in the six months to the end of March, but the boost wasn’t enough to offset a 33 per cent fall in profits. Operating profits fell to £1.2m, while revenues were down 11 per cent on a statutory basis at £61.1m and four [...]
Bramhill quits Wessex Exploration May 22, 2012 David Bramhill resigned yesterday as chairman of Aim-listed Wessex Exploration. Bramhill led the Bristol-based group’s IPO in March last year. Shares in the company fell three per cent after the announcement, which comes a month after French major Total decided not to pursue a takeover bid for the company.
VOICE OF THE CITY May 22, 2012 This week we want to know what our Voice of the City panel thinks of the Beecroft report on employment, which has proposed measures including scrapping existing unfair dismissal rules and replacing them with compensated no-fault dismissal. To have your say, apply to join the panel at cityam.com/panel.
Turner vows to act if FSA finds new mis-selling May 22, 2012 THE CHAIR of the FSA, Lord Turner, has assured MPs that if the watchdog finds “widespread evidence” that banks have been mis-selling financial products to small firms, “we will take action”. His warning came as the Treasury Select Committee kicked off an inquiry into corporate governance, particularly in banks. At a hearing yesterday, Lib Dem John Thurso [...]
US home sales on the rise as Fed official says QE3 is not required May 22, 2012 HIGH levels of American home sales were recorded in April, boosting hopes for the US recovery, as a leading member of the Federal Reserve said that conditions are not ripe for more quantitative easing. Sales of already-owned homes shot up by 3.4 per cent to an annual rate of 4.62m units last month, the highest [...]
Deloitte: firms are hoarding £64bn cash pile May 22, 2012 BRITISH companies are sitting on a £64bn cash pot built up by delaying payments to suppliers, a new study claims. Research by Deloitte found that, on average, suppliers were paid four days later in 2011 than they were two years earlier in order to help companies amass funding for their daily cash flow. This has [...]
Profits double as Bloomsbury turns to ebooks May 22, 2012 SHARES in Bloomsbury jumped 6.6 per cent yesterday as the British publisher said its pre-tax profits from continuing operations more than doubled last year. Continuing pre-tax profits were up 53 per cent to £12.1m, while total turnover grew 11.5 per cent to £103.2m. Bloomsbury pointed to its “huge ebook growth” as a source of the income [...]
Big Yellow hit by tax raid on storage space May 22, 2012 STORAGE giant Big Yellow yesterday reported annual losses of £35.6m – triggered by writedowns linked to an impending tax rise. The government is planning to slap VAT on self storage payments, which means that storage costs could shoot up as much as ten per cent. The company’s losses in the year to the end of [...]
