Morrisons hires Post Office boss Paula Vennells as “restructuring” board strategist November 12, 2015 Could there be more changes in store for Morrisons? The struggling supermarket has hired Paula Vennells, the boss of the Post Office, citing her "restructuring" experience as being "invaluable". Vennells will join the board as non-executive director from 1 January. She is taking over from Johanna Waterous, who is leaving after six years. Vennells has been chief executive of [...]
Boris Johnson announces plans to raise London’s Living Wage to £9.40 an hour November 2, 2015 London's Living Wage is set to rise again, after Boris Johnson and the Living Wage Foundation announced another round of hikes. In a speech this morning the Mayor of London said voluntary Living Wage will be raised to £9.40 an hour in the capital, from £9.15 an hour now. Meanwhile, the UK Living Wage will rise to £8.25 [...]
Creating wealth, giving back: Highlights of my year as the lord mayor of London November 1, 2015 This is my final City A.M. column as lord mayor – in less than a fortnight, I’ll hang up my hat, pass on the chain, and watch the removal van pull up outside Mansion House. But what a fantastic year it’s been! It’s the one job in the world where I have felt that absolutely [...]
FTSE led higher by Hargreaves and Arm results – London Report October 16, 2015 THE FTSE 100 closed higher yesterday after three consecutive sessions of closing down, as investors concentrated on company earnings. The FTSE closed 1.1 per cent up, at 6,338.67 points, led by gains in Arm and Hargreaves Lansdown. Arm, the semiconductor and software design company, ended 4.78 per cent up on the back of strong results [...]
At the close: FTSE 100 led higher by strong company earnings reports October 15, 2015 The FTSE 100 closed higher today after three consecutive sessions of closing down, as investors concentrated on company earnings. The FTSE closed 1.10 per cent up, at 6,338.67 points, led by gains in ARM and Harvgreaves Lansdown. ARM, the semiconductor and software design company, ended 4.78 per cent up on the back of strong results from Taiwanese [...]
Unilever share price jumps as it smashes expectations boosted by emerging markets October 15, 2015 The figures Consumer goods giant Unilever soared past forecasts with its third quarter results, reporting underlying sales growth of 5.7 per cent, against expectations of four per cent. The British-Dutch firm reported an overall turnover of £9.9bn, up by 9.4 per cent, helped along further by currency tailwinds boosting this figure by 2.9 per cent. Unilever’s [...]
One year in, Tesco boss has Dave Lewis no room for excuses – The City View September 29, 2015 A year ago this month, Dave Lewis was anointed Tesco’s chief executive after being parachuted in from Unilever and tasked with turning around Britain’s biggest retailer. The supertanker was sinking fast. Lewis’ predecessor Phil Clarke had overseen a disastrous reign littered with profit warnings, a collapse in the share price and falling market share. Tellingly, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 28 September 2015 September 27, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com Canaccord Genuity downgraded its target price for the owner of the Daily Mail and Metro newspapers, Daily Mail and General Trust, to 815p from 855p, but kept its “hold” rating as it predicted the group’s full year results would be in line with [...]
Lord Browne: Saving the corporation – it’s time to reconnect September 17, 2015 Criticism of big business has long been a favourite pastime of the left. From Jeremy Corbyn to UK Uncut, such campaigners dominate discourse on the disconnect between companies and society, and the solutions proposed to deal with this issue consequently often have a punitive edge, from jailing bankers to renationalising industry. Enter one of [...]
News Corp buys London adtech company Unruly Media for up to £114m September 16, 2015 News Corp has bought the video advertising technology company Unruly Media for up to £114m to improve its digital video offering for advertisers. Unruly, one of the most successful startups to emerge from London's Silicon Roundabout, will operate as a separate unit in News Corp's business, under newly returned UK chief Rebekah Brooks. “We have always [...]