THE LONDON REPORT October 22, 2009 The FTSE 100 closed one per cent, or 50.49 points, lower yesterday at 5,207.36, as weaker crude and metals weighed on energy stocks and miners. The index has rallied more than 50 per cent since hitting a low in early March, and is up 17 per cent this year. Energy stocks suffered with crude slipping [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 22, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES GARTMORE ON BRINK OF £500M IPOGartmore, the fund management group equally owned by management and private equity group Hellman & Friedman, aims to register flotation plans with the UK’s Financial Services Authority as early as next week. The group has appointed Morgan Stanley and Citigroup to advise it on completing an initial public [...]
Gap is widening between best and worst brands October 20, 2009 THINGS have picked up on the high street over the last month, but it’s not a case of a rising tide lifting all boats: the recession seems to have made the customer more discerning. Of the 25 high street retailers which BrandIndex measures daily, we’ve taken three of our top-ranked, and compared them with three [...]
Why next year will be critical for London’s army of M&A dealmakers October 18, 2009 WHEN Tim Jones, the London managing partner of global law giant Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, walks into a room, one is immediately struck by the fact that he still looks every inch the Wales B rugby prop forward he used be. However, as he settles down in one of his firm’s sixth-floor, oak-panelled meeting room, he [...]
MILLIONAIRE LEAVES THE LAP OF LUXURY TO GET BY ON 64 A WEEK October 14, 2009 CHANNEL 4-gazers might have been surprised last night by the sight of a familiar face popping up on the box: Pimlico Plumbers boss Charlie Mullins. Mullins, himself the subject of a classic rags-to-riches tale as a self-made business tycoon, was taking part in the channel’s popular “Secret Millionaire” show, for which he travelled to a [...]
Booker cuts debt pile as sales jump October 13, 2009 BOOKER, the UK’s largest cash and carry business yesterday said its first-half profits had climbed by 12 per cent. The group, which runs over 170 branches supplying corner shops, grocers, and restaurants, said it made a pre-tax profit of £29.7m in the 24 weeks to 11 September, up from £26.5m the year before. Booker said [...]
Banks drag down the FTSE as miners and energy drop October 13, 2009 BRITAIN’S top shares closed 1.1 per cent lower yesterday, as weakness in banks outweighed strength in defensive issues, while sentiment was dampened by falls on Wall Street after disappointing corporate earnings. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed 56.02 points lower at 5,154.15, slipping below the 5,200 level which it hit for the first time in more [...]
CHARLES DUNSTONE GETS HITCHED IN GLITZY STAR-STUDDED STYLE October 11, 2009 THE BELLS rang out at the weekend for the business wedding of the year, the nuptials of Carphone Warehouse tycoon Charles Dunstone and PR executive Celia Gordon Shute. After the service at Christ Church in Spitalfields, the throng of moneyed guests hopped into black cabs to travel to everybody’s favourite bit of a wedding, the [...]
M&S clothing slips into third place October 8, 2009 Marks & Spencer has fallen into third place among Britain’s fashion retailers in terms of volume of clothes sold, trailing behind George at Asda and Primark, according toTNSFashion Trak. M&S fashion sales have suffered as consumers switched to cheaper rivals during the recession.
Hodges to head Aviva UK as insurer announces management reshuffle October 6, 2009 Aviva yesterday announced that its head of UK life insurance Mark Hodges is to become chief executive of its entire domestic business, bringing all its UK life and non-life operations under one leader. The move is part of a management shake-up which has been prompted by the retirement of Aviva’s chief executive of North America, [...]