What the other papers say this morning – 26 March 2014 March 25, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Banks pay out $100bn in US fines Wall Street banks and their foreign rivals have paid out $100bn in US legal settlements since the financial crisis, according to Financial Times research, with more than half of the penalties extracted in the past year. The sum reflects a substantial shift in political attitudes towards [...]
Best of the Brokers for 25 March 2014 March 24, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com LLOYDS Investec has returned to a “buy” rating on the bank, two months after downgrading it to a “hold”, and sticks to its 85p target. The broker says it’s safe for investors to get back into the water now Lloyds has tackled its PPI [...]
How BHS’ food offerings could unseat Asda and Morrisons March 24, 2014 Sir Philip Green has come knocking at the major supermarkets’ door with plans to launch the first trial food outlet within a BHS department store this week. The retail tycoon, who is eyeing around 150 openings, aims “to be competitive” within the convenience food sector and undercut the big four by around 10 per cent [...]
Philip Green to take on big four with BHS food March 24, 2014 SIR PHILIP Green is taking on the supermarkets this week, as BHS launches its first food outlet. Arcadia, the group owned by the retail tycoon, confirmed over the weekend that BHS will be opening its first trial food space in its Staines store on Thursday, with Warrington to follow the next week. A spokesperson told [...]
What you need to know before the US open March 21, 2014 US stock futures have climbed higher, putting Wall Street on track for a good week, despite ongoing geopolitical worries and an interest rate-related fright from the Fed. Things have been escalating between Russia and the West. Obama’s targeted some of Putin’s nearest political and business allies, and the EU’s imposed sanctions on more individuals, in [...]
Tesco to invest £85m in joint Indian venture March 21, 2014 Super market chain Tesco has confirmed an agreement with Trent Limited, part of Tata group, to form a 50:50 joint venture In Trent Hypermarket. Trent Hypermarket operates the Star Bazaar. Tesco's investment will be in the region of £85m. Tesco has received the approval from the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board but is awaiting other [...]
Sainsbury’s hit by first sales fall in nine years March 18, 2014 SAINSBURY’S nine-year run of like-for-like sales growth came to a halt in the fourth quarter as sluggish market growth and fierce competition from discounters finally caught up with the grocer. Like-for-like sales excluding fuel tumbled 3.1 per cent in the 10 weeks to 15 March, ending 36 consecutive quarters of sales growth on chief executive [...]
Forget energy companies: Blame the regulator for distorting competition March 18, 2014 OFGEM, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will shortly issue an assessment of how well competition in the markets for gas and electricity is serving the interests of households and small firms. But as I argue in the March/April 2014 edition of the European Competition Journal, Ofgem’s regulatory [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 March 2014 March 17, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MICRO FOCUS Barclays upgraded Micro Focus from “equal weight” to “overweight” yesterday with a raised target price of 900p (from 800p). The broker expects that Micro Focus is soon to return to organic growth of up to five per cent now that its [...]
Tesco shares slump on BoAML downgrade March 17, 2014 Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have downgraded Tesco today to “underperform” on the back of rival Morrisons’ announcement last week to invest £1bn in slashing prices, causing the grocer’s share to fall to the bottom of investors’ shopping lists. The bank said the implications of the shock announcement from Morrisons were “substantial” and [...]