CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 25, 2010 Investec The investment bank has hired Paul Bail as a director in its debt advisory team, focusing on expanding its profile in the private equity space. Bail joins from Barclays, where he was managing director of leveraged finance in the financial sponsors group and a board director of Barclays Financial Investments. Prior to that, he [...]
HOW MUCH WEIGHT SHOULD WE PLACE ON TOMORROW’S GDP FIGURE? January 24, 2010 DAVID PAGE | INVESTEC Sharp changes in the economy have led to significant deviation between the official series and anecdotal evidence. We continue to attach weight to the more buoyant assessments from the CBI and the PMI surveys. There is plenty of room for surprises at this first estimate. JAMES KNIGHTLEY | ING At this [...]
The billion pound money manager January 21, 2010 LIFE could have been different for Chris Oulton, but in 1982 he answered an advert at the back of the Saturday Telegraph, which offered an “unusual opportunity” to a bright young graduate. He applied and within weeks he had the job and was thrust into the world of commodity trading. He found himself working for [...]
Rich pickings for Burberry as sales boom January 19, 2010 BURBERRY sales soared by 12 per cent in the three months to the end of the year – confounding City forecasts. The company took £380m in revenue over the period as it dropped unprofitable lines and kept a tighter control on stock. Wholesale revenue – which comes from department stores that stock the group’s trademark [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 19, 2010 MICHAEL PAGE Investec yesterday raised its target price for Michael Page to 410p from 360p and advised investors to hold the shares. It believes the recruiter’s recent trading update marked a turning point for the recruiter, noting gross profits were “sequentially ahead” for the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter last year. BURBERRY Evolution [...]
Tax is making firms flee UK January 17, 2010 ONE in 10 entrepreneurs plan to leave the country because of the current UK regulatory and tax environment, according to a report by Investec. A survey of 171 firms by Investec Specialist Private Bank and the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation revealed 10 per cent are planning to move their operations outside the UK. Investec’s Ed Cottrell said: [...]
Election timing is all as the economy wobbles January 17, 2010 It’s not supposed to be easy being Prime Minister, but even this one must wonder what he did in a former life to incur such wrath. Within a few days of launching election mode yet another miserable attempt at a coup had been made and failed, damaging the Government’s chances of re-election still further. Post [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 17, 2010 ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS Evolution Securities has upgraded its target price to 950p on its “buy” recommendation of ABF. Despite a recent rally, Evo said the company “still looks compelling value” with earnings forecast at 66p. It said all three of ABF’s largest divisions (Primark, Grocery and Sugar) are firing on all cylinders, and expects further [...]
Weak sterling helps push up inflation rate January 17, 2010 INFLATION is forecast to have surged in December, fuelling concerns that the Bank of England’s ultra-loose monetary policy is allowing inflationary pressures to build up. Economists on average expect the annual rate of inflation in December – published on Tuesday – to hit 2.5 per cent, with further rises in the pipeline. December marks the [...]
SHOULD THE MPC PAY ATTENTION TO THE STRONG UPTREND IN UK INFLATION ? January 17, 2010 MICHAEL SAUNDERS | CITIGROUP I doubt the MPC will totally dismiss the inflation upsurge because of the risk that its anti-inflation credibility continues to erode. Outside recession, an inflation targeting central bank cannot credibly ignore such large and repeated upside surprises in inflation data. PHILIP SHAW | INVESTEC We do not envisage significant concerns here, [...]