Sky Europe: A force to be reckoned with? May 12, 2014 With the news this morning that 21st Century Fox is in early stage talks with BSkyB, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland to create a pan-European satellite TV network analysts have been weighing up what such a move would mean. “If approved the company would be a force to be reckoned with in Europe,” said CCS [...]
Inside Track: The City’s broking shake-up continues with Oriel sale May 8, 2014 WHEN the founders of Oriel Securities debated a name for the research and stockbroking firm in 2002 they couldn’t initially come to an agreement. Simon Bragg, now chief executive, suggested it should be called Oriel because three of the six had been to the Oxford college of the same name. Now, 12 years later, the [...]
Bottom Line: Bank’s overhaul has further to go May 7, 2014 HSBC’S patchwork of asset sales, writedowns and restructuring efforts over the past three years has made the bank a safer place to invest, boss Stuart Gulliver reckons, even if the cuts give the regular updates a confusing ruffled appearance, with impairments and flattering charges making comparisons each quarter less meaningful. For example, a 32 per [...]
London Report: FTSE led down by Experian and HSBC first quarter results May 7, 2014 BRITAIN’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 2.12 points at 6,796.44 points yesterday, hindered by a drop in HSBC and credit data firm Experian. HSBC’s 1.3 per cent fall trimmed the most points off of the FTSE. The bank said its 20 per cent drop in first-quarter profits resulted from muted customer activity in [...]
Glencore boosts copper output in first quarter May 6, 2014 COMMODITIES miner and trader Glencore Xstrata yesterday posted a 24 per cent rise in first-quarter copper output, after expanding its operations at two mines. Among diversified miners, the FTSE 100-quoted firm has the biggest exposure to copper, which accounted for almost half of its earnings last year. It added that the performance of its marketing [...]
Analyst Views: What do you make of BSkyB’s third quarter set of results? May 1, 2014 PAUL RICHARD | NUMISWe retain our view that Sky is making excellent operational progress, particularly in connected TV services, and we see considerable opportunity in new initiatives including AdSmart and Sky Store, though the Premier League auction continues to overhang the shares. STEVE LIECHTI | INVESTECSky’s third quarter results are mostly as expected with the [...]
Saga puts retail investor at heart of London float April 30, 2014 SAGA, the over-50s holidays-to-insurance provider, yesterday unveiled plans for the biggest flotation in London this year, as a stampede of silver haired savers registered to snap up shares in the listing. The business, which was founded by east end hotelier Sidney De Haan in 1950, said it would raise £550m in an initial public offering [...]
Barclays cleans up with bad bank April 29, 2014 BARCLAYS will next week set up a bad bank to run down its weakest business lines as it grapples to turn its sprawling financial empire into a sustainably profitable business. Investment banking co-head Eric Bommensath will the run the bad bank, kicking off a series of major job changes on the way as part of [...]
Serco slides as market expects it to warn on 20pc lower profit April 29, 2014 SERCO’S shares plummeted almost 20 per cent yesterday morning and closed 15 per cent lower, after the struggling outsourcer warned a downgrade to profit forecasts and a rights issue may be on the cards. The scandal-tainted FTSE 250 company did not give further details, but analysts at Liberum and Investec forecast a 20 per cent [...]
Analyst Views: What did you make of Whitbread’s full-year results? April 29, 2014 JAMES HOLLINS | INVESTECWhitbread has provided another nail in the coffin of our bear stance with a strong set of full-year results… With the UK consumer feeling stronger than for a number of years, and the group on track for its 2016 and 2018 targets, our current “sell” recommendation looks overly bearish and goes under [...]