Tesco’s market share takes a fresh tumble February 15, 2012 TESCO endured a double blow yesterday, as it suffered a fresh drop in UK market share in the latest Nielsen figures, and set a leaving date for its long-standing director Andrew Higginson. The supermarket giant’s share of the UK grocery market fell 0.5 percentage points on a year ago in the three months to 4 [...]
Barclays unveils cash-free payment app in bid to poach bank customers February 15, 2012 BARCLAYS has launched a mobile app that could see the bank poach thousands of customers from rivals by giving them the ability to pay without cash. The app, called Pingit, is aimed at boosting Barclays’ brand by linking the lender to a convenient service. It lets users link their mobile number to their bank account [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 15, 2012 Octopus Investments The fund management company has hired James Almond to join the 30-person specialist finance team to work under the head of the unquoted division, Alistair Seabright. In the new role, Almond will structure new funds and investment products for both institutional and retail investors. He joins from Cornhill Asset Management, where he was [...]
FTSE falls in light trading as heavyweights go ex-dividend February 15, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index fell in light, choppy trade yesterday, pressured by heavyweights such as BP trading ex-dividend, and miners and broadcasters after analysts cautioned against further upside to recent sector gains. London’s blue chip index closed down 7.71 points or 0.1 per cent at 5,892.16. The FTSE 100 has barely moved outside of the [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS February 14, 2012 Barclays Capital is advising Misys through this deal. The team is led by London frontman Matthew Smith, a former employee of Citigroup and now head of UK M&A at BarCap. Heading the New York team are Lehman Brothers alumni Michael Carter and Erik-Jaap Molenar. JP Morgan Cazenove’s corporate finance managing director Andrew Hodgkin and vice [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS IHG WELL POSITIONED FOR GROWTH THIS YEAR? February 14, 2012 WYN ELLIS | NUMIS 2011 preliminary results were encouraging with underlying earnings before interest and tax of $559m vs. consensus of $542m. Net debt at year end was just $538m and we believe that after the disposal of the [Intercontinental New York] Barclay as much as $1bn could be returned to shareholders. KEITH BOWMAN | [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 14, 2012 BARCLAYS Shore Capital has upgraded the bank from “sell” to “hold” with a target price of 240p following its full-year 2011 results, saying the company has made better progress than expected in rebuilding its core tier 1 ratio. The broker is also more positive due to the ECB’s intervention into bank funding markets, which it [...]
MEET THE ADVISERS February 13, 2012 Both Vodafone and Cable & Wireless Worldwide have been quick to maintain that there is, as yet, no deal on the table. But, should Vodafone serve an offer, CWW has its usual advisory team – comprising Barclays Capital and Rothschild – at the ready. Heading the BarCap squad is Will Peters, who has been at the [...]
Why Barclays Capital is set to go marching on February 13, 2012 WHENEVER I speak to a director at Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley about BarCap, Barclays Bank’s investment banking arm, I am reminded by them that it takes a very long time to build up a sustainable leading position in the equity markets. As Barclays geared up for publication of its financial results last Friday, questions [...]
Japan’s economy falls sharply as Thai floods and strong yen pull on exports February 13, 2012 JAPAN’S economy shrank much more sharply that expected in the final quarter of 2011, official GDP estimates showed yesterday. The strong yen and Thai floods helped cut exports by 3.1 per cent over the three-month period, leading GDP to contract by 0.6 per cent. Public fixed capital formation fell by 2.5 per cent, a second [...]