Pictures: City’s bigwigs flock to Chelsea Flower Show warm-up bash May 20, 2014 There was nearly more power than flower last night as City grandees and business heavies strolled up the lilac carpet of the Chelsea Flower Show for this year’s preview evening. Insurance heavies Tidjane Thiam of Prudential and Standard Life’s David Nish both rolled up, perhaps giving them a chance to talk risk over the rhododendrons. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 May 2014 May 19, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com AVEVA Westhouse has started covering the engineering and design group with a “neutral” rating and 2,260p target price. The broker reckons Aveva is well-equipped for steady growth in both of its businesses, but believes the shares are fairly valued already. BURBERRY Barclays keeps [...]
CNBC Comment: How Qatar became Europe’s power broker May 19, 2014 WHEN in distress, US banks call Warren Buffett. In Europe, banks have turned to Qatar. It may only be the size of Yorkshire, but Qatar’s swoop on Deutsche Bank confirms its role as Europe’s power broker, having struck similar deals with Barclays, Credit Suisse, Dexia, KBL and Greece’s Alpha Bank. Germany’s largest bank has announced [...]
GAY-TMs and London’s French Riviera May 19, 2014 ANYONE using one of Barclays’ ATMs come the last week in June could be in for a colourful surprise. The bank has announced it’ll be sponsoring the Pride in London festival again this year, becoming headline sponsor for the first time. In celebration, it plans to create a gaggle of GAY-TMs along the parade route. [...]
Barclays in £600m bond swap May 15, 2014 Barclays is issuing at least another £600m of convertible bonds, or cocos, to boost its capital position. The bank is exchanging the new instruments for old bonds issued before the EU’s latest rules on capital buffers, CRD4, came into force. The bank has already issued £2bn of the instruments. Cocos boost a bank’s capital position [...]
Carphone and Dixons dial up £3.8bn merger May 15, 2014 DIXONS Retail and Carphone Warehouse shares slid into the red yesterday after the high street giants’ plans for a £3.8bn merger was given a mixed reception. The new group, which will be named Dixons Carphone, aims to exploit the ever-growing presence of smartphones in people’s lives and the so-called internet of things – where household [...]
Barclays loses top dealmaker in Asia amid bank staff overhaul May 14, 2014 BARCLAYS’ most senior dealmaker in Asia has quit the British-based business, delivering another blow to the company’s investment bank. Jason Rynbeck, who joined Barclays in 2008, resigned from the business last Thursday, according to a filing with regulators in Hong Kong. He was vice-chairman of mergers and acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region and joined Barclays [...]
Best of the Brokers for 15 May 2014 May 14, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com JUST EAT JP Morgan Cazenove begins covering the takeaway delivery service with an “overweight” rating and a price target of 290p. The broker likes the look of Just Eat’s sales growth potential, with high barriers to entry for rivals and a successful management [...]
Diamond’s firm to raise funds May 13, 2014 Former Barclays chief executive Bob Diamond’s latest venture, Africa-focused investment firm Atlas Mara, is placing 36.5m more shares in a major fundraising effort. Atlas Mara will issue the shares at $11 (£6.54) apiece, hoping to raise around $400m. Late last year, the group raised $325m in their initial public offering, but are quickly returning to [...]
SocGen unveils plan to cut costs and up revenue May 13, 2014 INVESTORS were unimpressed by Societe Generale’s plans to cut costs and grow revenues, sending its shares down yesterday. The giant French bank wants to increase its return on equity to above 10 per cent by the end of 2016, up from 8.4 per cent last year. To get there is wants to increase its revenues [...]