China meat scandal: Why consumers are turning on Western fast food brands July 23, 2014 TRUST lies at the heart of any company’s reputation, but its importance is amplified when the product being delivered is food. This is the hard truth facing the likes of Starbucks, Yum Brands – owner of KFC – and other leading Western fast food retailers, which have all pulled products from their outlets, after allegations [...]
International tensions heighten cyber security risks for business July 23, 2014 Heightened geopolitical tensions are increasing the risk of cyber attacks, an international cyber security expert has warned. As the the downing of MH17 and the ongoing hostilities in Gaza deepen global tensions, Malcolm Marshall, UK and global lead in KPMG’s cyber security practice, says that cyber attacks are rapidly becoming the new battleground of international [...]
Value stocks: A canny investor’s choice July 22, 2014 There is a long-running tug of war between two styles of investing: value and growth. The former sees investors select stocks with an intrinsic value. The definition varies, but tends to focus on companies with lower valuations and higher dividend yields. Growth investing is when investors tend to select stocks with growth potential, with valuation [...]
Chinese lottery firm DJI Holdings set to launch £130m London float July 21, 2014 Chinese lottery group DJI Holdings priced its initial public offering yesterday with an expected market valuation of £130.5m as the group looks to raise £15m from London’s Alternative Investment Market on Thursday. DJI will place 9m shares during the float priced at 100p on admission raising £9m. It will also issue £6m of convertible loan [...]
Chinese retailer Fraspens plans £40m Aim float July 21, 2014 ONE OF China’s largest outdoor clothing brands, whose board members include former Sportingbet chief Nigel Payne, has announced plans today for a £40m float on London’s junior market. Fraspens, based in Quanzhou, south east China, makes outdoor clothing, footwear and accessories sold in 580 outlets across China. The company is China’s third largest local outdoor [...]
Alibaba sets its sights on September to launch $200bn float July 17, 2014 CHINESE web giant Alibaba will reportedly begin its investor roadshow in September just ahead of a New York listing that could value the firm at $200bn (£117bn). Alibaba is looking to raise around $20bn from public markets this year, a fundraising which would rival the Agricultural Bank of China’s $22.1bn float in 2010 as the [...]
Inside Track: Under fire Glaxo should get a grip July 16, 2014 SIR Andrew Witty has been keeping his head down in recent weeks, as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) seeks a cure for what ails it in China. It hasn’t been difficult to see GSK’s bunker mentality in evidence: at Wimbledon, its hospitality marquee was shorn of corporate branding, a flaccid attempt to disguise a legitimate business activity. If [...]
General Motors sales drive company to best second quarter performance since 2005 July 16, 2014 The General Motors (GM) engine has started up again, as the auto manufacturer is back to delivering stronger sales performances. In the second quarter of this year GM saw 2,505,889 vehicles drive off forecourts around the world, up seven per cent in the US and eight per cent in the Chinese market. Sales have moved [...]
Yahoo hurt again by plunging online advert sales and prices July 16, 2014 Struggling internet titan Yahoo took another blow yesterday, reporting a three per cent fall in revenues, driven by a slump in adverts. The price of adverts has dived 24 per cent, contributing to a fall in overall revenues to $1bn (£583m), down three per cent on the year. To compensate for the poor performance the [...]
Chinese Hony Capital eats up Pizza Express July 14, 2014 PIZZA Express became the latest UK brand to be snapped up by a Chinese buyer after it was announced that the restaurant chain would be sold to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital for around £900m. The sale of Pizza Express is part of a recent trend that has seen Chinese buyers take ownership of [...]