Accidental bidding at Coutts auction for ambulance charity January 2, 2013 PRIVATE bank Coutts finished 2012 by writing one very large cheque – having raised over £50,000 for the London Air Ambulance charity in the last 12 months. Staff handed over £51,705 to the trauma charity – after fundraising activities including a comedy night, treasure hunt, abseil and auction. But The Capitalist hears that one new [...]
Waitrose rise in sales sparks hope for Xmas December 3, 2012 WAITROSE, the upmarket supermarket chain owned by John Lewis, said shoppers stocking up their pantries with Christmas staples helped drive sales up 7.8 per cent in the week to 1 December. Heston Blumenthal-branded Mulled Cider Gammon and Cropwell Bishop Potted Blue Stilton were among the best-sellers, with sales of the latter up 34.5 per cent. [...]
FTSE 100 flat as EU budget talks continue November 23, 2012 A lack of headway on the EU budget talks kept the leading share index broadly flat in trading this morning. Eurasian Natural Resources was the biggest blue-chip riser, adding more than one per cent. On the FTSE All-Share, holiday group Thomas Cook rose 5.44 per cent, while credit card CPP Group added 2.88 per cent. [...]
Ocado investors prop up £36m capital raising November 19, 2012 OCADO’S shareholders ploughed more money into the online grocery chain yesterday to support a £36m placing that will keep the firm financially stable for at least 18 months. Existing shareholders including Jorn Rausing of the Tetra Pak dynasty and Ocado’s management team took up around 19 per cent of the shares placed, in line with [...]
Cash boxes explained November 19, 2012 Q What is a cash box placing ? A A cash box placing allows a company to issue new shares by bypassing pre-emption requirements – meaning without shareholder approval – provided they are issued for a non-cash consideration, such as the shares of another company. Q How does the structure work? A The listed company [...]
Ocado delivers on its debts but profits aren’t in the bag November 19, 2012 BEFORE anyone gets too excited about Ocado’s share price rising by more than a fifth yesterday, the troubled online grocer is still trading at less than half its original float price of 180p, which was itself at the bottom of the hoped-for range back in 2010. Yesterday’s raising of £35.8m staved off Ocado’s most immediate [...]
FTSE 100 up on optimism over fiscal cliff deal November 19, 2012 The leading share index was trading up this morning, buoyed by optimism that the US will avoid the fiscal cliff. Miners and banking shares led the FTSE 100 higher this morning, with Eurasian Natural Resources the biggest blue chip riser, adding 3.27 per cent. On the FTSE All-Share, internet grocer Ocado rose almost 21 per [...]
Grocer Ocado dismisses loan breach fears November 18, 2012 OCADO, the online grocery shop, yesterday brushed off market speculation that it is seeking to renegotiate its debt covenants with its lenders, saying there was “no threat” it would breach its covenants. A weekend report suggested the online supermarket, which floated to much fanfare in 2010, was seeking to reset its debt or extend the [...]
Don’t scare away signs of life in City flotations market November 15, 2012 After several nerve-wracking days’ delay, Alisher Usmanov’s telecoms group Megafon finally launched its London IPO yesterday, giving the moribund market a timely boost ahead of the naturally quiet festive season. Megafon’s flotation, which is expected to raise more than £1.5bn for the selling shareholders, will run just slightly ahead of the London and Almaty float [...]
Hedge funds forced to reveal most shorted stocks by FSA November 6, 2012 HEDGE funds have had their short selling activities made public for the first time, as regulations enacted this week expose some of the massive bets made by firms involved in the secretive industry. The Financial Services Authority will now force all funds to declare any short position that represents more than 0.5 per cent of [...]