One chart that shows how the federal shutdown hit the US economy October 22, 2013 Despite having avoided a US government default, the economic damage of the temporary October shutdown can't be so easily undone. We're beginning to see data releases for those weeks now, and they're beginning to reveal a grim economic picture. Betsey Stevenson of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers has pointed to this chart: We'll [...]
Public offered a ride on theme park flotation October 21, 2013 ALTON Towers owner Merlin Entertainments yesterday said members of the public will have the chance to become shareholders in the company when it floats in London next month, with a minimum investment of just £1,000. The business, which also owns Madame Tussauds and Legoland, plans to raise £200m in an initial public offering of shares. [...]
Equistone fancies French pudding maker October 21, 2013 EQUISTONE, the private equity house founded by ex-Barclays buyout executives, has taken a bite out of a French luxury pudding maker that supplies tasty treats to M&S and McDonalds. The outfit, led by managing partner Guillaume Jacqueau, has bought a majority stake in French dessert conglomerate Europeenne des Desserts (EDD) for an undisclosed sum. The [...]
Analyst Views: What do you make of Informa’s nine month trading update? October 21, 2013 PATRICK YAU PEEL HUNT The third quarter looks good, although timing has helped. Guidance for the full year is unchanged. Looking to 2014, the main issue for forecasts seems to be currency rather than trading assumptions, with the dollar especially a key factor. We put our recommendation and target price under review. NICK DEMPSEY BARCLAYS [...]
City Moves for 22 October 2013 | Who’s switching jobs October 21, 2013 Brocade The networking solutions company has announced the hire of Joy Gardham as regional sales director for Western Europe. She was previously at Oracle, where she was operations director. Prior to that, Gardham held various roles at ICS Solutions and Microsystems. Macquarie Securities Duncan Farr has been appointed head of financial institutions sales for Europe at [...]
Alternative finance could liberate UK SMEs if regulators lift the speed limit October 21, 2013 THE ARGUMENT about banks and the adequacy (or not) of their lending to small businesses has raged on for about four years. It is a length of time comparable with the duration of the First World War, and this is a depressingly appropriate comparison. For all the thousands of rhetorical shells fired by both sides [...]
Fed QE taper fears on hold for now October 21, 2013 But a subsequent rally in global equities may be short-lived given the lingering uncertainties Global equities traded close to five-year highs yesterday, in part buoyed by expectations of a delay to the Federal Reserve’s tapering of its quantitative easing (QE) programme. The MSCI world index rose 0.7 per cent before dropping slightly, and the FTSE [...]
Becker raises doubts over Federer’s Olympic ambition October 21, 2013 LONDON 2012 silver medallist Roger Federer hopes to play at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but former world No1 Boris Becker believes that ambition is “far fetched”. Federer reached the Swiss Indoors second round yesterday to maintain his charge towards the World Tour finals at the O2 Arena. But after a forgettable year for the [...]
Hands’ Terra Firma set for £1bn flotation of Infinis October 21, 2013 TERRA Firma, the private equity firm controlled by seasoned investor Guy Hands, is today expected to lay out plans to float wind power firm Infinis on the London stock exchange, valuing its equity stake at £1bn. Infinis, the country’s biggest independent generator of renewable power, was snapped up by Hands’ group 10 years ago using [...]
Barclays in SME loan bid October 20, 2013 BARCLAYS will offer small firms pre-approved loans, the bank said today, making it easier to access credit. More than 60 per cent of firms with a turnover of more than £10,000 will qualify automatically for the loans of up to £15,500 when the service is launched this month. Banks have been under pressure from regulators [...]