City Moves for 28 April 2014 | Who’s switching jobs April 28, 2014 Octopus Investments The fund management company has appointed Alex Miller as chief operating officer. He was most recently at Lloyds Bank, where he was director of strategy and operational performance. Prior to that, Miller held senior roles at BT Group and Orange UK. HSBC The bank has announced the appointment of Ian Stuart as head [...]
Spotlight on Financial Fair Play in Football: Uefa forced to defend FFP’s independence April 24, 2014 EUROPEAN football’s governing body Uefa was forced into a PR offensive yesterday after their president Michel Platini appeared to state that no clubs would be banned for breaking new financial fair play (FFP) rules. The suggestion raised significant questions about Uefa’s willingness to get tough on serious offenders, and what influence, if any, Platini might [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 16 April 2014 April 15, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Market troubles dent Moelis flotation Boutique investment bank Moelis raised $163m from its US initial public offering after last-minute investor concerns forced it to shrink the size of its share sale and cut the price of the deal below its expected range. The IPO is the latest to come under pressure on the [...]
TalkTalk teams up with Sky to square up to BT April 15, 2014 TALKTALK and Sky will bypass BT’s national fibre broadband network, which they complain overcharges and under-delivers, with a trial of their own dedicated fibre network in York. Sky and TalkTalk will both plough £5m into the new joint venture, in partnership with CityFibre, which they say will surpass speeds offered by BT. “This is a [...]
City mourns bow-tied branding pioneer Olins April 15, 2014 TRIBUTES have been flooding in following the news yesterday of branding legend Wally Olins’ passing on Monday. The man who not only rebranded British Telecoms as BT, but also made wearing black rimmed glasses and bow ties cool long before east London’s hipsters got hold of them, has died of a short illness, aged 83. [...]
Watchdog set to probe BT’s fibre pricing April 14, 2014 BT IS PREPARING for a battle with the regulator to defend its wholesale pricing of superfast fibre to other operators such as Sky and TalkTalk. Last May TalkTalk complained to Ofcom, alleging that BT had been abusing a dominant position by making the wholesale price, that all providers pay, too close to its own fibre [...]
Musical adaptation of film is a certain hit April 13, 2014 THEATRE DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS The Savoy Theatre | By Alex Dymoke Four Stars STARRING Robert Lindsay, Zoe Wanamaker and the guy from the BT adverts, My Family was the sitcom equivalent of Michael McIntyre; good-natured mass-market comedy so inoffensive it ended up offending the chattering classes. Lindsay played flustered middle-class dentist Ben Harper, a far [...]
European rugby future resolved April 10, 2014 RUGBY UNION: The European Rugby Champions Cup is to replace the Heineken Cup next season, it has been confirmed. A second competition, the European Rugby Challenge Cup, will offer a route into the top tournament, while Italian and minor sides will take part in a qualifying competition. BT and Sky are set to share rights.
Best of the Brokers for 10 April 2014 April 9, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com KINGFISHER UBS has boosted Kingfisher from a “neutral” to a “buy” rating with its target price rising from 440p to 470p. The broker believes the home improvement retailer’s proposed deal to buy the French hardware firm Monsieur Bricolage could boost earnings per share by [...]
Why one analyst is so bearish on BT April 9, 2014 BT’s shares have been cooling for the past month, falling around 10 per cent, and now broker Bernstein has downgraded BT to “market-perform” on fears it may overspend on upcoming Premier League auction. “BT's ambition in TV is clear, what is not is how far they are willing to push Sky in the next round [...]