Best of the Brokers for 10 April 2014 April 9, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com KINGFISHER UBS has boosted Kingfisher from a “neutral” to a “buy” rating with its target price rising from 440p to 470p. The broker believes the home improvement retailer’s proposed deal to buy the French hardware firm Monsieur Bricolage could boost earnings per share by [...]
Why one analyst is so bearish on BT April 9, 2014 BT’s shares have been cooling for the past month, falling around 10 per cent, and now broker Bernstein has downgraded BT to “market-perform” on fears it may overspend on upcoming Premier League auction. “BT's ambition in TV is clear, what is not is how far they are willing to push Sky in the next round [...]
Devastated Miller clinging on to cabinet role despite calls to quit April 8, 2014 THE PRESSURE continued to mount for culture secretary Maria Miller to resign last night, after fresh calls from senior political figures in Westminster. In a column in her local newspaper the Basingstoke Gazette this morning, Miller wrote that she is “devastated” and feels she has let her constituents down. “I have always sought to do the [...]
Eyes down in battle to acquire UK bingo halls April 8, 2014 THE FORMER owner of high street stalwarts Comet and MFI is weighing a bid for up to 137 UK bingo halls from Gala Coral, underscoring a sudden turnaround in fortunes for the unloved bingo sector. Henry Jackson, the US investor who heads London-based firm OpCapita, has registered his interest in snapping up Gala Bingo from [...]
Immigration restrictions are holding the economy back says new report April 8, 2014 The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) has become the latest organisation to join the chorus of voices calling on the government to ease visa restrictions for migrant workers. The REC and KPMG jobs report published on Tuesday, said March saw a decline in the availability of candidates, with permanent staff availability falling at the sharpest [...]
City A.M. reader selfies good enough to eat April 7, 2014 EVERYONE loves a selfie and City A.M. readers are no different. These three are the lucky winners of our competition with Eat, each winning a week of free breakfasts. You can have a go too – turn to the back of the paper now and send us a selfie using #mademymorning for a chance to [...]
Ill Cavendish to miss third race April 7, 2014 CYCLING: Britain’s Mark Cavendish is to miss his third consecutive race due to flu, having pulled out of tomorrow’s Grand Prix de l’Escaut in Belgium. Team Sky’s Richie Porte will be absent from next month’s Giro d’Italia in order to concentrate on preparation for the Tour de France.
Why Game of Thrones is now the most important show on TV April 7, 2014 Tonight’s broadcast of Game of Thrones isn’t just the start of another fantastic season of bloodletting, beheading and gratuitous violence, it’s actually the most important thing happening on TV. For Sky, it’s the payoff from a £150m bet it made on HBO (the US channel behind Game of Thrones) in 2010 for exclusive UK access [...]
BT poaches Sky exec to lead TV and sport push April 7, 2014 TELECOMS giant BT has hired a veteran Sky executive to head up its TV and Sport operations, just two weeks after the division underwent a restructuring that pushed its former television chief out. BT will announce today that Sky Italia’s commercial chief Delia Bushell will join the company in July as manager of BT TV [...]
Bottom Line: Broadcaster is back on track but new boss faces fresh challenges April 7, 2014 THERE were fears last month that with BT’s TV head Marc Watson making a snap departure, the company wouldn’t be prepared for the upcoming Premier League bidding process that Watson played a key role in leading in 2012. The appointment of Delia Bushell should calm those worries. Bushell is highly regarded by her peers at [...]