FTSE sees boost from M&A muted by outlook warnings February 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index paused yesterday after recent sharp gains with a rally in miners on the prospects of a big sector merger counterbalanced by warnings from bluechips of a tough year ahead. The FTSE 100 finished 0.1 per cent, or 5.35 points, higher at 5,796.07, retreating from a six-month intra-day high of 5,809.82 after [...]
Unilever warns of tough 2012 February 2, 2012 Consumer goods giant Unilever warned of a difficult 2012 due to a tough economic outlook after broadly matching 2011 sales forecasts after it hiked prices and saw strong emerging market growth. The Anglo-Dutch maker of brands like Hellmann’s, Knorr and Dove pushed up prices in the final three months of 2011 to offset higher commodity [...]
Pandit: jobs must be top priority for year ahead January 29, 2012 ON THE closing day of the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday, chief executive Vikram Pandit told delegates that “jobs should be our number one priority” for this year. “Ultimately it is about growth. Nothing creates jobs better than growth,” said Pandit. He was one of five co-chairs for the event this year after being [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 17, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SURGE SEEN IN SELF-EMPLOYMENT A surge in self-employment is the result of people doing part-time odd jobs to avoid unemployment rather than a genuine increase in entrepreneurial zeal, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. The self-employed have risen by 300,000 since spring 2008 to 4.14m – the highest since records [...]
DS Smith in £1.3bn deal for packager January 17, 2012 DS Smith is buying the recycled packaging operations of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget for €1.6bn (£1.3bn) in a move to secure more business from the world’s top consumer goods companies. The company said the acquisition, which excludes two mills in Sweden that use virgin pulp, would be financed by a combination of debt and £466m from [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 12, 2012 UNILEVER Morgan Stanley rates the consumer goods group “equal-weight”, down from “overweight”, and has a target share price of €28 (£23.43). The broker notes that Unilever shares are at all-time highs and that investors should aim to take profits. Morgan Stanley also sees very limited scope for any earnings upgrades in 2012, leaving the shares [...]
FTSE rally ends as investors eye Eurozone bond auctions January 11, 2012 The rally on the FTSE 100 yesterday stalled in early trading today as concerns over upcoming Eurozone bond auctions and slightly weaker commodity stocks took their toll. Heavyweight miners failed to keep up the gains made yesterday which were fuelled by positive data from China showing the country’s demand for metals had risen. Wall Street [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 3, 2012 Avanti Communications Group Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo, has joined the board of satellite data company Avanti Communications as a non-executive director. He is also a non-executive director of FedEx Corporation and Unilever. Prior to joining Diageo, Walsh held financial and commercial positions with InterContinental Hotels and in the GrandMet food business, becoming CEO [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 7, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES DUBLIN IS URGED TO SELL NAMA AS A SINGLE ENTITY A secret report into the operations of Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency, the state agency set up to purge Irish banks of their toxic property loans, has recommended that the government should consider selling it off as a single entity. FINANCING PROBLEMS WEIGH [...]
Media Square revenue declines November 30, 2011 Marketing communications group Media Square yesterday reported a two per cent decline in revenue for the first six months of the financial year, reaching £21.8m compared to £22.3m last year. This was put down to the “challenging trading environment”, although “prudent cost control” allowed the group to maintain its operating profit at the same level [...]