Analyst Views | Did Sports direct’s results meet your expectations? February 22, 2013 FREDDIE GEORGE | CANTOR FITZGERALD The company continues to benefit from recent acquisitions, strong momentum with the internet and capacity coming out of the market. The stock, however, is expensive … but with newsflow on sales expected to remain positive, we believe the shares will continue to perform. PHILIP DORGAN | PANMURE GORDON Sports Direct [...]
THE TIPSTER: KINGFISHING FOR A FIX February 18, 2013 THE challenging consumer backdrop doesn’t augur well for Kingfisher, and this will show when the retailer issues its trading update on Thursday. Shares have traded within a range between 270p and 290p for the last year. But some in-house refurbishments, like improving cost structures and gross margins, may be just the fix it needs. ETX [...]
Small but perfectly formed: why Brides les Bains is a ski paradise February 17, 2013 BRIDES les Bains may be the smallest place you ever visit. With a population of just 600, it’s reminiscent of those little Irish towns where everyone knows everyone and the pharmacist is also the butcher and the local mechanic on Tuesdays. In fact, while dinning at the town’s main restaurant, La Petite Auberge (where 80 [...]
City Moves for 14 February 2013 | Who’s switching jobs February 13, 2013 KNG Securities The fixed income specialist has announced the appointment of Armando La Morgia as a head of structured finance. He joins from Hemera Capital Management, where he focused on residential mortgage-backed and consumer asset-backed securities. Lewis Silkin Alex Kelham will join the City law firm as senior associate in its sports group. Kelham spent [...]
The Debate: Will Premier League financial fair play rules have a positive impact on English football? February 7, 2013 YES David Lampitt Football’s finances have long needed a rethink. Clubs are incredibly valuable assets to supporters and communities. They need sustainable long-term stewardship, not a system of casino economics, rampant insolvency and a dependency on the whims of a super-wealthy elite. This can only be achieved through strong independent regulation that includes financial fair [...]
Sports Direct hires Espirito as broker February 6, 2013 SPORTS DIRECT has hired the Portuguese investment bank Espirito Santo as its corporate broker after ending its six-year relationship with Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) earlier this month. The sportswear retailer, controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, said it had appointed Espirito with immediate effect, becoming joint broker alongside Oriel Securities. Ashley and [...]
eBay set to stop selling second hand tickets to drive StubHub January 20, 2013 AUCTION website eBay is set to ditch its ticket-reselling service in the UK in a bid to encourage customers to use StubHub, the struggling second-hand ticket exchange it owns. The company bought StubHub for $310m (£195m) in January 2007 and has seen the US business succeed. However, since StubHub.co.uk’s launch in March last year, the [...]
Sports Direct ends BAML link January 14, 2013 SPORTS Direct has parted ways with corporate broker Bank of America Merrill Lynch after six years. Mike Ashley’s retailer and the bank are believed to have ended the relationship by mutual consent at the end of last year. Ashley and BAML have worked together since Sports Direct floated in 2007, and are reported to have [...]
The good, the bad January 10, 2013 THE DIVIDED state of the UK retail sector was brought into sharp focus yesterday as an upbeat Tesco and Shop Direct claimed victory in the Christmas retail wars, while Marks and Spencer suffered the fallout of a worse-than-expected festive period. Following muted performances by rivals Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, a resurgent Tesco revealed its strongest sales [...]
Paris Saint-Germain chief says £570m deal justified January 7, 2013 PARIS Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi insists the football club’s contentious £570m deal with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) is “justified” and should not fall foul of financial fair play (FFP) rules. Experts behind European governing body Uefa’s FFP regulations, which stipulate clubs’ losses for the period 2011-13 must not exceed €45 (£37m) if they want [...]