Who’s that man with the brand new scooter? Our prize winner November 8, 2012 BATED breaths around the City can finally breathe deeply, the lucky winner of Monday’s competition has now been revealed. The proud new owner of the very sleek Vmoto scooter, The Capitalist is pleased to announce, is Guy Hawney, equity dealer at Hermes Pensions Management. Hawney correctly guessed that the top speed of the motorcycle was [...]
Rodgers reliant on Suarez to make a point at the Bridge November 8, 2012 CHELSEA vs LIVERPOOL Sunday 4.00pm A QUARTER of the way through the season and it’s clear to see that reviving Liverpool is not going to be an easy task for Brendan Rodgers. The Reds’ opening five games yielded just two points and there is still a long way to go, although their fortunes have improved [...]
Will US markets recover? November 7, 2012 MICHAEL HEWSON | CMC The US market rally appears to have been one of those “act in haste and repent at leisure” types of market reaction which investors in hindsight wish they’d thought better of. Yesterday morning’s news from Europe has seen US markets plunge on the open as investors quickly realised that for all [...]
Comet launches clearance sale on stock as shop closures loom November 7, 2012 COMET’S administrator has today begun slashing prices on selected stock across the retailer’s 236 stores, as talks to sell all or parts of the business continue. A spokesperson from Deloitte said it had launched “a gentle” clearance sale today on certain items but said it would not hold a full blown fire sale at this [...]
The most eligible people in the City: Tatler’s Little Black Book for 2012 November 7, 2012 ANNABEL’S private members’ club in Mayfair was where the most eligible people in the land gathered yesterday evening, in order to celebrate the publication of Tatler’s Little Black Book. The Capitalist was pleased to spot some City names on the inaugural most wanted list, and indeed just as many business bachelorettes as bachelors gracing the [...]
BRC sees retail sales dip ahead of Christmas as food price inflation rises November 6, 2012 SHOP price inflation climbed in October, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed yesterday, as food prices boomed. Shop prices rose 1.5 per cent in the year to October, the data showed, up from the one per cent growth in the year to September. This increase was driven by a four per cent climb in food [...]
Tesco set for a Christmas tussle to win back customers November 6, 2012 TOWARDS the end of last year I discussed in this column how 2011 had seen Tesco’s brand perception scores fall throughout the year. As we would expect to see, perceptions proceeded sales. Tesco’s January announcement that its sales had dropped led to a sell-off that knocked around 100p from Tesco’s share price. This is a [...]
Canaccord boys trade their toys November 6, 2012 BROKERS at Canaccord Genuity have been out on the road the past couple of weeks, working on a bond issuance for lorry company Stobart Group. As part of the roadshow the firm hosted a “truckers’ breakfast” at its London office yesterday, dishing out bacon sarnies and coffee to those who attended. They were also handing [...]
M&S posts slide in profits November 6, 2012 Retailer Marks & Spencer posted falling profit in the six months to September, hurt by low consumer confidence. Pre-tax profit came in at £290m for the group, down from £307m over the same period last year. Britain’s biggest clothing retailer said this morning that recent trading had been “volatile”, making it cautious about the outlook [...]
UK retail sales fizzle out after spending falls November 5, 2012 SIGNS of improved spending on the high street have proved to be something of a damp squib after retail sales in October slowed to their lowest growth in 11 months. Following strong sales the previous month, like-for-like retail sales fell 0.1 per cent in October compared with the same time last year, the British Retail [...]