Great cost cutting – but show me the growth May 12, 2011 IAN Livingston is incredibly good at cost cutting, which is just as well. The no-nonsense Scot has removed some £2.8bn of costs in the last two years alone. That is exactly what the firm needed after former chief executive Ben Verwaayen, who won a huge amount of business at the expense of margins and profits. [...]
Dick Turpin can make fitness edge count May 12, 2011 RICHARD Hannon had a remarkable season in 2010 and the two main highlights were surely Canford Cliffs and DICK TURPIN. The stablemates locked horns in the Greenham, the 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace and the score currently stands at 2-1 to Dick Turpin. It may seem strange then that Paddy Power have Dick [...]
Resolution life sales jump by 52 per cent May 10, 2011 RESOLUTION, the buyer and consolidator of UK life insurance assets, sold £270m of fresh life policies in the first three months of the year, it said yesterday. New sales through its newly-renamed Friends Life business rose 52 per cent or £92m on the same period in 2010, with £66m of the increase attributed to its [...]
Strong miners propel FTSE to a one-week closing high May 10, 2011 THE FTSE 100 share index hit a one-week closing high yesterday after bumper Chinese trade data boosted miners, although analysts said sentiment could be soured if Beijing opts to tighten its monetary policy. China’s April consumer price inflation index, due today, is expected to have dipped from March’s 32-month high of 5.4 per cent to [...]
BG Group profit hit by North Sea tax May 10, 2011 Civil unrest in North Africa and floods in Australia conspired to hit British gas and oil producer BG Group’s profit in the first quarter and forced it to cut its output growth forecast for this year. Underlying pre-tax profit fell eight per cent, the company said in an update that missed forecasts and knocked 3.4 [...]
Hills agree Investec Derby deal May 9, 2011 HORSE RACING: Epsom Downs racecourse has signed up William Hill as official bookmaker of next month’s Investec Derby Festival. The five-year partnership will create a dedicated microsite, www.theroadtothederby.co.uk, where punters can read news and watch footage of the Derby and its trial races.
Weak banks and fears over Eurozone debt drag on FTSE May 9, 2011 BANKING stocks weighed on Britain’s leading share index yesterday, with the sector hit by their capitulation in a fight over loan insurance mis-selling, and by Eurozone debt concerns after S&P cut Greece’s credit rating. The British Banking Association said members would not appeal a ruling that they compensate customers wrongly sold payment protection insurance (PPI). [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 8, 2011 BG GROUP Deutsche Bank rates the oil explorer a “buy” with a target price of £17.25. The broker expects BG’s first quarter results tomorrow to show a 14 per cent rise in operating profit as the uptick in commodities prices outweighs slightly lower production levels. Deutsche has raised its earnings per share forecasts based on [...]
The winner of the Investec Derby will join racing greats May 8, 2011 THE INVESTEC Derby is one of the highlights of the social and sporting calendar. Watched live by 125,000 people, it is not for nothing that the Investec Derby is known as the world’s greatest flat race. The Derby, of which City A.M. is the official paper, is open to three-year old thoroughbred colts and fillies, [...]
FlyBe becomes latest victim of curse of the London floats May 5, 2011 REGIONAL airline group FlyBe yesterday saw its shares fall more than 20 per cent after scaling back guidance for its 2012 profits. The airline, which raised £60m at the end of last year for European expansion as part of its London flotation, said it had been hit by “an extremely challenging macro-economic backdrop” in its [...]