Mobile banking transactions doubled in 2013 March 31, 2014 MORE than 2bn banking transactions will be carried out using mobile apps this year, the British Bankers’ Association said today, in a new landmark for the industry. The number of transactions on mobile phones and other devices more than doubled last year to 18.6m per week, and the pace is accelerating. Currently 5.7m transactions are [...]
Best of the Brokers for 31 March 2014 March 30, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ITE GROUP Peel Hunt has placed ITE Group under review following a serious currency hit for the conferencing group and added effects of lost Ukrainian sales. The broker said that for 2015 the ongoing geopolitical impact of the Russian conflict with Ukraine has [...]
The tech whizz who still has faith in the trusty telephone March 30, 2014 Annabel Palmer talks to Paul Lees, the ex-BT programme manager who co-founded the conference call firm for SMEs Powwownow WANDER down any street and it will instantly become clear just how far the telecoms industry has changed in the past decade. A growing minority of households has now gone mobile-only, in Britain and elsewhere. But [...]
Canary Wharf owner sees shares rocket 21pc on results March 28, 2014 Songbird Estates, the developer of Canary Wharf, has posted a pre-tax profit jump from £201.5m to £900.8m. Shares leapt 13 per cent at the open this morning, and are now up an impressive per cent at 235p per share. Underlying profits have dropped marginally to £22.4m, but the firm got a boost from surging London [...]
Analyst Views: What did you think of yesterday’s results? March 28, 2014 DANIEL GARROD | BARCLAYSThe tone of the release is positive, particularly on improvement in primary and secondary cash equity volumes. Yield on secondary equities is highlighted as having come down as would be expected, but nevertheless we believe the net result is positive. PHILIP MIDDLETON | BANK OF AMERICA MERRILL LYNCHThe company reports good performance [...]
Babcock slides on rights issue to buy Avincis March 28, 2014 BABCOCK International’s share price plummeted yesterday, after the engineering firm announced a £1.1bn rights issue to fund the acquisition of heavily indebted helicopter services company Avincis. The FTSE 100 company said it is buying Avincis for £920m from private equity firms Investindustrial and KKR, but will also assume Avincis’ debt of £705m. The deal will [...]
City Moves for 28 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 28, 2014 Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management The wealth management firm has announced the appointment of David Esfandi as chief executive for the UK. He was most recently at Ashcourt Rowan, where he was a senior leader in its asset management division. AllianceBernstein The investment management firm has appointed Mike Fullalove as product development manager for Europe, the [...]
London Report: Financial and mining stocks weigh on FTSE March 28, 2014 BRITAIN’S top stock index fell yesterday, with miners leading the retreat on lingering concerns their earnings could be hurt by weaker metals prices following an economic slowdown in China and improving supplies. Banks also lost ground after the Federal Reserve blocked the US units of Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC from paying higher dividends [...]
Mysterious Pears dynasty backs new venture to build £1bn of London homes March 27, 2014 One of the biggest and most private landlords in London and the South East has thrown its weight behind a £200m joint venture that aims to build £1bn of new homes in central London over the next five years. The Pears family, which owns the Coutts bank building on London’s Strand and the Coronet theatre [...]
Boris hits Twitter launching new yellow Barclays bikes and professing love for the Queen March 27, 2014 London’s favourite blonde bombshell took to Twitter this afternoon, with a new, grown-up profile pic, launching a yellow Barclays bike and answering questions from the Twittersphere. The canary-hued bikes, 101 of them to be exact, are to celebrate Le Tour de France’s British leg on 7 June (not because Barclays is ending its sponsorship – [...]