What the other papers say this morning – 20 August 2013 August 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES US top trade official presses Japan The top US trade official Michael Froman pressed Japan to open up its car and insurance markets as transpacific trade talks reach a critical stage, with negotiators trying to seal a deal by the end of the year. Race for Africa investment tax deals The surge in [...]
Bottom Line: When making a brand new start of it doesn’t work August 18, 2013 WHEN Edwards’ planned London flotation was cancelled in April 2011, the markets barely even feigned surprise. The vacuum technology firm’s pulled initial public offering (IPO) came amid a period of market volatility and – Glencore aside – little appetite for new listings. It was hardly surprising that investors didn’t clamber over each other to [...]
Shareholder Spring did not go away but activist investors are evolving August 18, 2013 PROXY season is more or less over, and boards are bulging with new members or otherwise breathing a sigh of relief. Last year’s Shareholder Spring saw activism make a big impression on British investors, but this year many assume the surge has receded. Beyond headline-grabbing revolts over director pay, however, activist investors are still playing [...]
Samsung to launch wristwatch-style smartphone next month August 16, 2013 Samsung will launch a wearable wristwatch-style smartphone device next month, sources close to the matter have reportedly told Bloomberg. The widely-anticipated Galaxy Gear will be shaped like a wristwatch, and will be able to make phone calls, surf the internet and handle emails. It won’t, however, have a flexible display, which Samsung and rivals including [...]
Billionaire’s tweet adds $17bn to Apple August 16, 2013 APPLE’S shares rocketed last night after legendary investor Carl Icahn tweeted his support for the company, adding tens of billions to its market value. The activist shareholder sent markets wild with a pair of tweets during afternoon trading yesterday, telling over 40,000 followers that he owns a large amount of Apple stock – which he [...]
US hedge funds lift lid on top stock holdings August 15, 2013 BILLIONAIRE hedge fund managers including Warren Buffett revealed a raft of big stock trades yesterday amid a resurgence in investors backing top US brand names. Buffett, who this year snapped up ketchup maker Heinz in a £18bn (£11.5bn) deal, said his Berkshire Hathaway outfit had upped stakes in General Motors and US Bancorp while keeping [...]
AZ Electronic Materials shocks investors with gloomy outlook August 15, 2013 AZ ELECTRONIC Materials yesterday warned that demand for its chemicals is likely to be more sluggish than expected, sending its shares down as much as 10 per cent. AZ, which supplies the chemicals used in Apple’s iPad, revealed that revenues were one per cent lower at $363.7m (£232.5m) in the first half of the year, [...]
Earnings up at China Mobile August 15, 2013 China Mobile, the world’s biggest mobile carrier by subscribers, posted a two per cent rise in second-quarter net profit yesterday, roughly in line with market expectations, buoyed by an increase in 3G subscribers. China Mobile’s net profit for the April-June quarter came in at 35.2bn yuan (£3.7bn). China Mobile, the only Chinese carrier that does [...]
Smartphone sales overtake regular mobiles August 14, 2013 SMARTPHONES outsold more basic handsets for the first time ever in the second quarter of 2013, grabbing 51.8 per cent of worldwide mobile sales. The latest analysis of the market, from data firm Gartner, also shows that Blackberry has dropped behind Microsoft as the third most popular operating system – losing almost half of [...]
Bottom Line: A single innovation is not enough August 14, 2013 THINGS just keep getting worse for BlackBerry. After finally admitting it would be open to a sale on Monday, Bloomberg cited sources yesterday claiming execs have been quietly searching for a buyer – with no luck – for months. And now Gartner’s latest report has market share all but halving in a year, dropping [...]