Morrisons profit up – but predicts tough 2012 March 8, 2012 Britain’s fourth-biggest grocer Wm Morrison said the UK grocery market was likely to remain subdued in the coming year despite easing inflationary pressures as it posted a eight per cent rise in year profit. “We expect a challenging year in 2012,” the firm said on Thursday, adding that it still expected to deliver profitable growth. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 6, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS GROW FOR $45BN UTILITY AS BUYOUT GROUPS’ HEDGES NEAR EXPIRY The world’s biggest private equity deal is facing rising financial pressure during the next two years with the expiry of contracts that underpinned the takeover of utility TXU. Investors in the $45bn buyout of the company, now known as Energy Future Holdings, [...]
The week ahead: Oil, gas, defence and UK interest March 4, 2012 Today Petrofac, a solutions provider to the oil and gas industry, announces full year results today. The first set of results after a restructuring exercise in 2011 could see a hike in profits. Petrofac has recently been awarded an Iraqi oilfield project, building on its presence in the region. Glencore is announcing its full-year numbers [...]
Barclays in key hiring from rival February 29, 2012 BARCLAYS Capital has demonstrated its ambition to become a leading player in UK investment banking, hiring Mark Astaire, head of corporate broking, from rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Astaire, who is now on three months’ gardening leave, joins his former colleague Richard Taylor at BarCap, where he will be charged with driving the team [...]
Tesco keeps on losing share to cut price rivals February 29, 2012 LEADING supermarket Tesco failed to increase sales as quickly as its rivals in the last 12 weeks, data out yesterday showed, while leaked documents showed the Co-op is well behind its sales targets already this year. Tesco’s sales rose 2.5 per cent in the 12-week period ending 19 February, compared with the same period last [...]
FTSE Flat as Greek bailout gets the nod February 21, 2012 THE FTSE 100 was broadly flat this morning as Eurozone leaders agreed a second bailout for Greece after weeks of tortuous negotiations. Investors overall were encouraged by the move but there were still fears that the €130bn lifeline was only a short term fix for Greece which is drowning in debt. The deal was largely [...]
Oil surges on Iranian fears February 20, 2012 OIL prices surged yesterday after a defiant Iran banned sales to Britain and France, amid growing fears over the country’s nuclear ambitions. Brent crude nudged over $121 a barrel – the highest level for eight months – as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Tehran to assess first hand the Islamic Republic’s controversial [...]
Why not to position for a gold crash February 20, 2012 GOLD has traded in a channel for the last month, but despite this, it remains at a price nigh on unimaginable 18 months ago. “Although the last month has been a quiet one for the price of gold, the metal is still up by around 10 per cent for the year and is still almost [...]
Greece’s latest austerity promise isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on February 13, 2012 LONG-TERM investors could be forgiven for putting their hands over their ears at the mere mention of the Eurozone – at the very least it will better assure their continued sanity. But traders are cut from a different cloth and see opportunities in volatility. Despite the relief following the latest agreement for the Greek government [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 12, 2012 The Salamanca Group Jeremy Wrathall has been appointed as managing director of Salamanca Resources, the recently formed division of the group that will focus on the metals and mining sector. He joins Salamanca from Renaissance Capital, where he was head of investment banking for the firm’s London operation and had responsibility for metals and mining, [...]