WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 19, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES INVESTCORP REPORTS FIRST LOSSInvestcorp reported its first annual loss in its history after the London and Bahrain-listed investment group suffered big falls on its hedge fund investments and heavy writedowns at its private equity and real estate arms. The company, which made its name investing in retailers Gucci, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue, [...]
A SIGH OF RELIEF FOR FUND GURU DUFFIELD August 4, 2009 AFTER months of being down on his luck, perhaps the tide is starting to turn for veteran fund management guru John Duffield and his newest business venture, Brompton Asset Management. Duffield, who also previously set up Jupiter and New Star, originally named the firm Hyde Park Asset Management, before hedge fund marketing firm Hyde Park [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 4, 2009 RECKITT BENCKISEREvolution Securities maintains its “Add” recommendation for household and health provider Reckitt Benckiser and raises its price target for the shares to 3,050p. Despite forecasted profit losses in the next year, the broker sees a strong new product pipeline and focus on volume growth as spelling encouraging progression. MARKS & SPENCERGoldman Sachs predicts significant [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 29, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES CATTLES’ NON-EXECS WIN TEPID SUPPORTLong-suffering investors in cattles, whose shares have been suspended since April, protested yesterday against the re-election of two non-executive directors at the subprime lender’s annual meeting. About a tenth of investors voted against the re-election of David Haxby, senior independent director who has been with the board since 1999, [...]
Meet the deal-maker extraordinaire who hopes the crisis will end in 2010 July 26, 2009 It is hard to escape the feeling that Slaughter and May’s Nigel Boardman is ever so slightly bored. Given that he is London’s top mergers and acquisitions (M&A) lawyer, and that we are still in the midst of a bitter recession which has led to a dramatic reduction in deal-making, this is not exactly surprising. [...]
MARKS & SPENCER DUO LET PHONE TAPPING BYGONES STAY BYGONES July 12, 2009 REMEMBER retail tycoon Sir Philip Green’s bid for rival Sir Stuart Rose’s Marks and Spencer back in 2004, commonly known as one of the most intriguing takeover campaigns in corporate history? At the time, the City lapped up tales of stepped-up security at the retailer, including investigations into allegations that third parties had illegally accessed [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 9, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESSTRATEGIC REVAMP FOR LLOYD’SLloyd’s of London has begun the biggest strategic review it has undertaken this decade in an attempt to ensure the more than 320-year-old insurance market does not fail in exploiting the gaps in the market thrown up by the financial crisis. The institution, which deals in insurance risks from all over the [...]
SLICE OF OLD-BOY STYLE HITS CITY FINE WINING AND DINING CIRCUIT July 8, 2009 NOT so long ago, City types were busy bemoaning the lack of decent restaurants on their patch. But now, just weeks after the Galvin brothers announced they were opening a new pad near Spitalfields market, I hear there’s a new eatery coming to town, courtesy of Simon Parker Bowles, former brother-in-law to Camilla, Duchess of [...]
Rose sees off revolt among shareholders July 8, 2009 SIR Stuart Rose yesterday quelled investor rebellion and hung on to his job as Marks & Spencer’s executive chairman. But despite seeing off a protest vote at the group’s annual meeting, he did not get an easy ride, with a higher-than-expected 38 per cent of investors backing a resolution that could have forced him to [...]
SHAREHOLDER VIEWS: DO YOU BELIEVE ROSE SHOULD RELINQUISH THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN ROLE? July 8, 2009 JEANETTE CAWLEY“Sir Stuart Rose does a fantastic job. I just don’t think that having two separate people for chairman and chief executive would bring anything extra to the company, because he knows the business really well from top to bottom.”HAZEL HOARE“As far as I’m concerned they should get rid of him. I think the board [...]