Flybe shares in a tailspin after warning January 10, 2012 FLYBE’S shares tumbled 20 per cent yesterday after it warned its revenues would fall short of targets. The regional airline, which makes 70 per cent of its revenues on UK domestic flights, said conditions in Britain had deteriorated, leading to an eight per cent sales drop in its third quarter. Flybe’s board spent the day [...]
There’s no let up in City’s race to consolidate January 9, 2012 IT seems there is going to be no slackening of the consolidation process taking place in the financial advisory sector. Evolution has already been swallowed up by Investec, with fairly unpleasant consequences for many of its employees; Collins Stewart Hawkpoint is busy sorting out the finer details of its deal with the Canadian group Canaccord, [...]
Property investor Patron picks up forecourt group January 9, 2012 PRIVATE equity house Patron Capital has snapped up forecourt operator Motor Fuels Group. The property investment specialist has taken control of 58 mostly freehold petrol filling stations in a joint venture with a new management team backed by oil industry veteran Alasdair Locke. The petrol stations trade under the BP, Shell, Esso, Total and Jet [...]
Cenkos mulling bid for Panmure January 8, 2012 BROKER Panmure Gordon could be sold to rival Cenkos Securities as the sector’s weak performance prompts another round of consolidation. Directors at Panmure have spoken to their counterparts at Cenkos and are also believed to have held discussions with another suitor. Sources said “it is right that board members talk” to other firms given the [...]
High-end house prices on the rise in London January 8, 2012 TOP-END house prices in London have kept rising despite global economic uncertainty, according to data seen by City A.M. Properties worth between £5m and £10m grew in value by 3.5 per cent in the year to the end of September 2011, research from Investec reveals. Houses worth between £1m and £2m increased in value by [...]
WANEY SEES IN 2012 AT NEW YEAR’S EVE CONGA January 2, 2012 DILEMMAS, dilemmas. Should one have accepted the invitation to see in 2012 with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen at Roman Abramovich’s £5m party on the Caribbean island of St Barts? Or should one have saved oneself the bother of a plane journey and make an appearance at restaurateur Arjun Waney’s New Year’s Eve party at his [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 2, 2012 MAX PETROLEUM Following a dry hole at SAGW-2, Merchant Securities rates the Kazakhstan-focused oil & gas company as a “buy” with a target price of 25.2p. The broker limits its valuation of Sagiz West due to the dry hole, taking into account only proven and probably reserves for that field of 4.8Mb, and leading to [...]
Investec bags Evo in time for Christmas December 22, 2011 INVESTEC formally closed its deal to buy British investment bank Evolution Group yesterday, following its final decision on lay-offs across both companies. Investec won its bid battle in August when it settled on a price of £233m all in shares, a premium of 28 per cent on Evolution’s share price the day before it disclosed [...]
UK growth rate revised upwards December 22, 2011 UK GDP growth has been revised up to 0.6 per cent from 0.5 per cent. The annual rate of growth remained unrevised at 0.5 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Analysts said Thursday’s figures did not change their view that the economy was set for a sharp slowdown due [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN THORNTONS SURVIVE IN THE TOUGH RETAIL CLIMATE? December 21, 2011 DAVID JEARY | INVESTEC We infer… a mixture of both sales and gross margin weakness has prompted the revised PBT guidance… We understand that covenants would not be breached at the projected level of guidance. AMISHA CHOHAH | MERCHANT SECURITIES The high gearing, with net debt of £24.5m in 2011 and set to grow further, [...]