Barclays names Shell as its top pick for 2014 January 14, 2014 Barclays has given Royal Dutch Shell’s new chief executive Ben Van Beurden the ultimate vote of confidence by declaring today that the oil major is its top pick for 2014. Low-profile internal candidate Van Beurden replaced Peter Voser at the start of the year, surprising some investors who had expected finance chief Simon Henry to [...]
Mega deals have returned – but European banks are losing out to US rivals January 14, 2014 As global merger and acquisition activity springs back into life after a period of relative inertia, it's worth noting that the likely benefactors amongst bank advisers to these mega deals are likely to be increasingly American. While the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch find themselves set [...]
Amec sets out £1.9bn offer for Foster Wheeler January 13, 2014 ENGINEERING firm Amec has provisionally agreed to buy US rival Foster Wheeler for $3.2bn (£1.9bn), both parties said yesterday. Samir Brikho, chief executive of the FTSE 100-listed company, described the acquisition as “transformational” for Amec, enhancing its position in the downstream energy sector and in developing markets such as Latin America. Threadneedle Investments, a top [...]
Derivatives guru exits trade body January 13, 2014 VETERAN trade body chief Anthony Belchambers yesterday said he will step down from the influential Futures and Options Association (FOA) trade body after more than 20 years leading the group. Belchambers, founder of the FOA and a seasoned champion of the derivatives sector, will take on a pared-back role as special adviser when he leaves [...]
Mobile shoppers boost demand at Shop Direct January 13, 2014 SHOP Direct said sales from smartphone and tablets “exploded” over Christmas, boosting the group’s efforts to shift away from its roots as a traditional catalogue business. The online and catalogue retailer, which owns brands such as Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and isme.com, said total sales rose five per cent in the six weeks to 27 December compared [...]
Best of the Brokers for 14 January 2014 January 13, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BAE SYSTEMS UBS analysts are upbeat on BAE, highlighting it as their favourite pick from the European aerospace and defence sector. They have a “buy” rating on the stock and hiked their target price from 475p to 510p, citing a likely Saudi price [...]
London Report: Banks lift FTSE as new leverage rules welcomed January 13, 2014 ARALLY in banking shares helped the FTSE 100 rise to a two-month closing high yesterday as investors welcomed the prospect of lighter rules on leverage for the sector. Supermarket WM Morrison was the top FTSE gainer on speculation it may sell some property and return some of the proceeds to shareholders, while oil and gas [...]
Banks cut hours for junior staff January 12, 2014 A NUMBER of City banks are examining plans to cut the hours worked by interns and junior staff in their investment banking units, City A.M understands, following criticism some are working dangerously hard. After months of intense scrutiny of the industry’s practices, Barclays is thought to be considering increasing the number of junior staff it [...]
BlackRock backs Bolton against Italian civil suit January 12, 2014 BLACKROCK said it has conducted a full internal investigation and found no evidence to support allegations that fund manager Nigel Bolton is guilty of insider trading. It emerged on Friday that Consob, the Italian securities regulator, had launched civil proceedings against Bolton, a portfolio manager and head of BlackRock Investment Management’s European equity team, accusing [...]
Banks pay further £77m to small businesses for swaps mis-selling January 10, 2014 According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK's four largest banks have upped the pace of payouts to small businesses mis-sold interest rate hedging products. 1,040 firms had been paid a total of £158.6m in compensation from Lloyds, RBS, Barclays and HSBC by the end of December. In November a total of £81.2m was [...]