ITV may buy to boost its studios arm March 28, 2011 ITV may grow its struggling studios division through acquisitions, according to its chief executive Adam Crozier. The broadcaster is desperate to strengthen the division to provide a revenue stream that is less volatile than advertising income. A bounce-back in the ad market trebled ITV’s pre-tax profits to £321m last year. However, it saw a steep [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT HAS CAUSED THE SLOWDOWN AT SAINSBURY’S? March 23, 2011 NICK BUBB | ARDEN Sainsbury’s was very pleased with itself for delivering 3.6 per cent like-for-like growth in its third-quarter, but once higher VAT and the benefit of store extensions were stripped out the performance wasn’t so impressive. We maintain a ‘weak Hold’ view. We would switch to Morrisons. CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL The [...]
Betting on the Budget March 21, 2011 IT’S Budget week, the Wimbledon of financial news, so will the Chancellor’s announcements be champagne and strawberries for CFD traders, or “new balls, please”? Unless the Chancellor of the Exchequer takes leave of his senses, the tax free status of spread betting is not going to be under threat. At the same time, the capital [...]
NEED TO KNOW | AREA INSIGHT March 17, 2011 Commuting: Based at the southern end of District Line, Wimbledon Station has good access to West and Central London. There are also regular overground trains to Waterloo (taking 19 minutes) and a twice-hourly service to St. Pancras (taking 40 minutes). Education: Ursuline High for girls and Wimbledon College for boys are two above-average comprehensives. Wimbledon [...]
Investors drop equities on continued Japan worries March 16, 2011 HEIGHTENED fears about the nuclear crisis in Japan saw investors shun equities yesterday, with falls by heavyweight commodity issues dragging Britain’s top share index lower. Banks were the biggest fallers, however, also under pressure as a downgrade of Portugal’s credit rating by Moody’s further unnerved investors. At the close, the FTSE 100 was down 97.05 [...]
Partygaming moves closer to Bwin merger March 15, 2011 ONLINE gaming company PartyGaming has moved closer to its agreed merger with Austrian rival Bwin, confirming that the tie-up is planned to complete on 31 March. The merger was formally entered into the Vienna companies’ register yesterday, in a filing by Bwin. The Austrian company’s shares will cease trading on 25 March in anticipation of [...]
Morrisons ditches MBL March 15, 2011 Home entertainment distributor MBL Group has warned of job losses for “many of its employees” after supermarket Morrisons pulled the plug on a 14-year relationship with the firm. MBL, which supplies Morrisons with CDs and DVDs, has put itself up for sale in the hope of securing a rescue deal. Morrisons – the UK’s fourth [...]
Events in Japan decide nuclear option’s future March 14, 2011 SINCE the impact of the earthquake that hit Japan last week, and the devastating effects of the tsunami that followed in its wake, the Japanese central bank has been throwing yen by the trillions into the economy to try and mitigate the disaster’s effects. At the same time, the government has taken a similar interventionist [...]
WM Morrison in £32m deal to prepare ground for web war March 10, 2011 WM MORRISON yesterday announced a £32m deal to purchase a ten per cent stake in New York-based online grocer FreshDirect, as it prepares the ground to take on rivals on the web. Under the terms of the deal, Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips will take a seat on the board, and top Morrisons executives will [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WILL THE SUPERMARKET’S PLANS ATTRACT INVESTORS? March 10, 2011 PHILIP DORGAN | ALTIUM SECURITIES Morrisons has grown its sales, profits, margins and return on capital. Not bad considering the state of the consumer economy. It is to return £1bn to shareholders over the next two years and has committed to double digit dividend growth. We are maintaining our ‘buy’ recommendation. RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES [...]