ANALYST VIEWS: SHOULD WE TAKE THE GDP FIGURE AT FACE VALUE? January 25, 2011 ANDREW GOODWIN | ERNST & YOUNG ITEM CLUB We find it difficult to believe the economy is really as weak as these figures suggest. This view quite simply does not square with what survey indicators are telling us. The ONS has little hard data to base this first release on, so we see the prospect [...]
Greencore to fight rival bid January 23, 2011 GREENCORE is expected to sweeten its merger deal with Northern Foods this week in an attempt to best Boparan’s £342m cash takeover offer. Dublin-based Greencore is considering adding a cash sweetener on top of its all-share merger with Northern, according to people familiar with the companies. Northern’s board has dropped its support for the Greencore [...]
FTSE closes the week on a high January 21, 2011 ENERGY stocks led the FTSE into a rebound today following the sharp sell-offs seen in the past two days’ sessions. The FTSE 100 closed up 28.34 points, or 0.5 per cent, at 5,896.25, having hit a five-week closing low on Thursday. Royal Bank of Scotland was by far the biggest riser, up 6.5 per cent [...]
Property experts say stamp duty hike will not hinder sales January 20, 2011 HIGH-END property buyers will not be put off by the looming rise in stamp duty, according to research seen by City A.M. Though the OECD warned yesterday that the tax places unfair barriers on the housing market for some, 52 per cent of property professionals surveyed by Investec thought the 25 per cent duty hike [...]
Mourad worth Big Buck’s in World Hurdle January 20, 2011 WITH just under two months to go until the start of the Cheltenham Festival, the time is right to start building our ante-post portfolio. The purpose of any bet placed such a long way in advance of the event itself is to take a price about a horse that will supposedly be a lot shorter [...]
William Hill profit to come in at top of forecasts January 19, 2011 William Hill, Britain’s biggest bookmaker, said full-year operating profit would be at the top end of expectations after a surge in demand for in-play betting underpinned a strong fourth quarter. William Hill, which has around 2,300 betting shops in Britain and Ireland, said on Wednesday it expected an operating profit of around £275m for its [...]
City A.M. joins forces with the Epsom Derby January 17, 2011 CITY A.M. has agreed a deal with Epsom Downs Racecourse to become the official newspaper of the Investec Derby Festival, which takes place on Friday 3 and Saturday 4 June at Epsom Downs Racecourse. The agreement will see City A.M. produce a Derby Special Edition as its first ever Saturday newspaper. The 20-page publication will [...]
ECONOMISTS’ VIEWS: HOW HIGH WILL INFLATION RISE? January 16, 2011 PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC “There is a worrying inflation outlook in the UK. Our forecast is looking for a rise to 3.5 per cent for December, and it seems likely that inflation will exceed the four per cent level later this year.” HOWARD ARCHER | IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “The data is expected to showthat annual [...]
GROWING CONFIDENCE IN UK ECONOMY January 13, 2011 The Investec entrepreneur confidence index that tracks the confidence levels of entrepreneurs in the UK economy has seen a small rise of 2 per cent since June. Some 56 per cent of the entrepreneurs interviewed believe that the economy will improve over the next 12 months. Ed Cottrell of Investec said: “The overall findings from [...]
UK Mail blames poor weather conditions for profit warning January 12, 2011 SHARES in UK Mail dropped more than nine per cent yesterday after the delivery firm warned on its full-year profits, prompting Investec to cut its earnings and dividend forecasts and its target price to 400p from 420p. “Whilst we were able to manage our operations such that over 99 per cent of our Christmas parcel [...]