Greene King brews up record-breaking Christmas January 13, 2014 Pub retailer Greene King has posted a rise in like-for-like sales of five per cent for the last six weeks. The company achieved a six per cent rise in like-for-like sales over the years two most important trading weeks. Christmas Day proved to be the most successful in the company's history, with 62,000 meals sold, [...]
Best of the Brokers for 9 January 2014 January 8, 2014 AVEVA Strong engineering results have earned Aveva an upgrade from UBS, which has hiked its rating from “neutral” to “buy” with a target of 2,550p, up from 2,300p. The broker sees relatively high growth rates despite underperformance in the last quarter of 2013 that has kept the share price down. CINEWORLD Numis has reiterated its [...]
The dark side of Britain’s recovery January 8, 2014 Growth is back, the housing market is booming and shoppers are ever more confident – but that shopping spurt is not all good. It might seem a relief after years of recession and stagnation, but there are reasons to be worried about the foundations of the new boom. Official data out today shows the recovery [...]
Bitcoin bounces back above $1,000 after this new endorsement January 6, 2014 Bitcoin has bounced back across the $1,000 (£610) mark in the wake of the announcement that social game company Zynga would accept the virtual currency for some of its services. Players of games such as FarmVille 2 and CastleVille will now be able to use Bitpay, a Bitcoin payment provider to make in-game purchases. Zynga [...]
The year in preview: Our in-depth guide January 5, 2014 City A.M.’s journalists take a wide-ranging look at what 2014 has in store for the world of finance and business BANKINGRestoring faith means costly overhaulsA CAUTIOUS optimism pervades the British and European banking system at the start of 2014. The incoming economic recovery is at last improving customers’ creditworthiness, while the hard work running down [...]
London Report: Retailers set to reveal scale of 2013 hangover January 5, 2014 RETAIL figures due this week will reveal whether Britain’s major brands are going into the New Year with a Christmas hangover. Marks & Spencer and Tesco are both set to report on Thursday, and J Sainsbury on Wednesday, with figures likely to show retailers faced a dismal festive season. Debenhams has already set the tone, [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 20 December 2013 December 19, 2013 FINANCIAL TIME Taper pressures emerging markets Markets soured on the day after the US Federal Reserve’s dramatic tapering of its asset purchases from $85bn to $75bn per month as the dollar climbed and vulnerable emerging markets came under pressure. The taper heralded a new era of dollar strength, with the US currency up by 0.6 [...]
Lloyd’s insurer gets £600m Japanese offer December 16, 2013 ONE OF Lloyd’s of London’s biggest insurers is on the verge of being snapped up by a Japanese insurance giant, in a deal worth around £600m. Canopius Group, which is majority owned by UK private equity firm Bregal Capital, is in talks with Sompo Japan Insurance about the deal, which could be agreed as early [...]
Mayor of New York to set up city advice firm December 15, 2013 NEW YORK’S outgoing mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is setting up a consultancy business to advise other cities on development. Bloomberg, who will leave his mayoral post at the end of December after 12 years and three terms in charge, is taking a number of senior City Hall staff with him to launch the business, named Bloomberg [...]
City Moves for 13 December 2013 | Who’s switching jobs December 12, 2013 Quintant Partners The insurance and technology firm has hired Guy Shepherd as director for technology and solution design. He has over 20 years’ experience developing insurance technology solutions. Shepherd was formerly at PwC, where he was head of its insurance modelling practice. TSB The bank has announced the appointment of Susan Crichton as general counsel. [...]