BEST OF THE BROKERS April 7, 2011 BRITVIC Goldman Sachs has downgraded the soft drinks firm to “sell” and cut its target price by 77p to 384p. The broker thinks the firm’s sales mix will continue to suffer as UK and Irish customers look for better value. It also expects Britvic’s management to admit rising input costs during interim results next month [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE BANK OF ENGLAND RAISE INTEREST RATES TOMORROW? April 5, 2011 ANTHONY JEFFERYS | AXA INSURANCE “Yes I think it should start to increase Bank rate. Mainly because inflationary pressures are too heavy at the moment, and the rise in oil prices means an interest rate increase is all but inevitable at some stage.” OLIVER STAPLE | HORN & CO “As someone with a mortgage, I [...]
SuperGroup exec resigns March 29, 2011 DIANE Savory, chief operating officer of SuperGroup, quit the fashion retailer suddenly yesterday in a move that surprised analysts and investors. Savory (pictured) has worked at the clothing group, which owns retail brands Superdry and Cult, for more than 20 years and played a crucial role in preparing the company for its £120m flotation last [...]
Friends Life launches from Resolution buyouts March 28, 2011 LIFE insurance consolidator Resolution announces its retail face with the launch of Friends Life today. Friends Provident chief executive Trevor Matthews will head the new brand, working on it from his native Australia when he returns there soon, he told City A.M. yesterday. Friends Life brings together five million life customers from Friends Provident, Axa [...]
PM backs the City’s start-up business plans March 28, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today back a campaign launched by over 60 City firms to encourage people to become entrepreneurs. Firms including HSBC, Deloitte, Google, KMPG, BlackBerry, AXA, Coutts, Intel and Lloyds TSB are offering a package of £1,500 to every start-up that participates. Cameron will pledge his full support for the scheme and ask the [...]
Dividend hike as Resolution looks at deals March 24, 2011 BRITISH insurance consolidator Resolution hiked its dividend more than expected, as it focuses more on squeezing cash from its businesses, and said it was still mulling deals outside the UK. Resolution, created to buy underperforming British life insurers and merge them into a more profitable whole, yesterday raised its final payout for 2010 by 15 [...]
Savers should utilise ISAs to beat inflation March 16, 2011 5 APRIL will be the last day this tax year to shelter your savings under an ISA. With stagnant wages and inflation biting into savings, holding savings in cash is not a good idea. Mervyn King will likely be sending letters to George Osborne apologising for high inflation for a while to come. The 2 [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT THE EFFECT OF GREECE’S PUBLIC FINANCES ON THE UK? March 7, 2011 TIM EDWARDS | WILLIS RE “Yes, it affects our economic situation too. It’s right that we support them, but the case to say it’s unfair to subsidise them is clear too. They clearly have to tighten up regulatory requirements.” BARRY HENLEY | RSA “I would be concerned if we were funding their problems and not [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 7, 2011 Nomura Holdings The Asian investment bank has made a number of changes to its management team. David Benson, Nomura’s former chief risk officer, will become vice chairman of Nomura Holdings. Wholesale president and COO Jesse Bhattal (pictured) will become deputy president of Nomura Holdings and CEO of the Wholesale division, and Yasuo Kashiwagi, currently senior [...]
Nestle joins the hunt for Yoplait as suitors line up with offers March 1, 2011 NESTLE and General Mills are among leading candidates to buy a 50 per cent stake in French yoghurt maker Yoplait. General Mills and Nestle have submitted offers for the Yoplait stake being sold by private equity firm PAI Partners, valuing the yoghurt maker at about €1.6bn (£1.35bn) according to Bloomberg. China’s Bright Dairy & Food [...]