WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 6, 2009 THE SUNDAYSThe Sunday TelegraphBRITISH GAS AIMS TO BECOME TOP INSURANCE PROVIDERBritish Gas is gearing up to become one of the UK’s top 10 insurance companies and the provider of choice to its 4.5m customers. The Centrica-owned utility has been granted approval by the FSA to underwrite its own household and warranty products and is in [...]
BT may hike rivals’ bills to cut its pension deficit December 1, 2009 THE telecoms regulator may allow BT to charge its rivals more for using its broadband and telephone lines to help it cut its £9.4bn pension deficit. Ofcom said it would consult on whether to take into account BT’s payments to cut its deficit when setting prices for its wholesale arm Openreach. Charges to firms such [...]
HOW WILL BT’S COMPETITORS REACT TO THIS PROPOSAL? December 1, 2009 TOM GIDLEY-KITCHIN CHARLES STANLEYRivals to BT have been wholly against this right from the start. Why should people like Carphone Warehouse be penalised because BT cannot manage its pension? I think a compromise will be the end result of all this and I don’t think it will be massively negative for BT’s competitors.ROBIN BIENENSTOCK BERNSTEINA [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 25, 2009 ElectraThe private equity group has appointed Roger Perkin as a non-executive director. Perkin is a former senior partner at Ernst & Young, where he spent 40 years of his career. He was previously lead auditor to UBS from 1998 to 2005 and has worked for clients including 3i, Resolution and Henderson. He also recently advised [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 24, 2009 BLACKS LEISURE Seymour Pierce yesterday upgraded to “Outperform” from “Sell” its rating on Blacks Leisure. It said the approval of a Company Voluntary Arrangement eighteen months into turnaround plans at the company was the catalyst for the upgrade. The terms return financial stability to the store’s portfolio, Seymour Pierce said, leaving it in substantially better [...]
THE TIPSTER November 23, 2009 ASIAN markets have been struggling to keep up with the likes of European and US indices, which have continued to mark new highs for 2009. The Japanese Nikkei has failed around the 10,500 level a few times between July and October but its weakness could provide a buying opportunity ahead of the seasonal rally higher [...]
Tesco pushes into broadband as drive beyond groceries continues November 19, 2009 TESCO has set its sights on capturing a bigger slice of the broadband and home phones market as part of a drive to increase revenues from more profitable non-grocery markets. The supermarket group said it had agreed a five-year deal with Cable & Wireless for the telecoms firm to supply it wholesale broadband services. This [...]
Tesco to tie up with C&W November 19, 2009 Tesco, the UK’s biggest supermarket, is set to spark a price-war in the telecoms sector when it ties up with Cable & Wireless. The new venture will threaten rivals BT, Virgin Media and Carphone Warehouse. The tie-up is forecast to generate £2bn in annual sales and £200m in yearly profits over the medium term.
C&W to raise 200m as it unveils demerger plan November 17, 2009 Telecoms group Cable & Wireless (C&W) is to split itself in two in a de-merger and tap the bond market to fund the deal. C&W will de-merge its worldwide unit, which supplies services to blue-chip companies in Europe, Asia and the US, from its international division, which provides fixed-line, mobile and broadband services in the Caribbean, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 17, 2009 BT GROUPJP Morgan downgraded BT to “neutral”, saying that the group delivered on earnings in its first-half, but that there is reduced upside and scope for positive surprises. This and the increased pension liability drove the downgrade to the broker’s valuation, with the target price dropping to 170p. It believes the pending pension review will [...]