Exclusive: Shelf Drilling pulls $500m float plan after investors get cold feet July 1, 2014 Oil-rig contractor Shelf Drilling is to pull its plan to float on the London Stock Exchange today, citing insufficient interest to justify proceeding with the sale. Sources close to the deal yesterday told City A.M. the decision was made late last night to cancel the initial public offering, which was set to raise at least [...]
Morrisons and Tesco lose grip on market share and sales July 1, 2014 Morrisons and Tesco have both suffered another heavy fall in sales and market share in the last 12 weeks despite efforts to slash prices and win customers back into their stores. Data released yesterday from Kantar Worldpanel showed that overall grocery market grew by 2.8 per cent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to 22 June, [...]
Ocado delivers a profit but sales growth slowing July 1, 2014 Shares in Ocado slid 4.3 per cent yesterday despite the online grocer moving into the black in the first half, paving the way for its first annual profit in its 13-year history. The company said pre-tax profits totalled £7.5m for the 24 weeks to 18 May, following a £3.8m loss last year, thanks [...]
Best of the Brokers for 02 July 2014 July 1, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com HENDERSON Citi has lifted its rating on the investment group to “buy” from “neutral”, keeping the target price at 268p. The broker thinks the acquisition of Geneva Capital Management fills a strategic gap, and will provide a much enhanced US equities capability. DUNELM [...]
Focus on fees: How investors can build a low-cost portfolio July 1, 2014 Index and exchange-traded funds are increasingly popular, but don’t forget about platform fees With the new Isa (Nisa) rules now in force, investors are looking at how to get the most bang for their buck out of the new £15,000 annual allowance. And while the performance of investments is key, and low-cost tracking options will [...]
Ocado earnings jump 79pc after Morrisons tie-up July 1, 2014 Online grocer Ocado has reported a rise in gross sales of 15.6 per cent for the 24 weeks ended 18 May, broadly in line with what had been expected. Analysts at Deutsche Bank had forecast that Ocado would report that gross retail sales in the second quarter grew by 15.3 per cent, compared to 18 [...]
Carphone Warehouse sells Virgin Mobile France to Numericable June 30, 2014 Carphone Warehouse and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group confirmed yesterday that they had agreed to sell Virgin Mobile France, the country’s largest mobile network operator, to rival Numericable for €325m (£260m). The mobile phones giant owns 46 per cent of Virgin Mobile France’s holding company Omer Telecom, while Virgin Group owns 46 per cent. The rest [...]
City Moves for 01 July 2014 | Who’s switching jobs June 30, 2014 Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty David Wilson has been appointed global head of energy claims at the insurance business. He has over 13 years’ experience in claims, and was most recently energy and property claims manager at a London-based insurance company. Perella Weinberg Partners Jorma Ollila has been named an advisory partner at the financial services [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 27 June 2014 June 26, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES GoPro soars on Nasdaq debut Shares in GoPro soared higher than the daredevil sports enthusiasts who use its action cameras as it made its stock market debut yesterday leaping more than 30 per cent to over $31 in its first morning of trading. The initial public offering is the biggest for a consumer [...]
Debenhams refinances debts with £225m bond June 26, 2014 Department store Debenhams refinanced its debts yesterday after launching a £225m bond issue. The retailer has sold £225m of senior notes due in 2021 at a 5.25 per cent yield. This was more than the £200m it had planned to raise when it announced the bond issue last week. Chief executive Michael Sharp, said the [...]