To revive a weak economy small firms must be able to become tomorrow’s giants January 8, 2012 AT THE dawn of a New Year, one bright spot across the gloom of the economic horizon remains Britain’s army of entrepreneurs – those remarkable men and women who have the drive and passion to launch and run their own business. For it is these often family-owned ventures – the small and medium enterprises (SME) [...]
Blockbusters boost Cineworld January 5, 2012 Movie giants such as The King’s Speech, the latest Harry Potter instalment and Twilight helped UK cinema chain Cineworld post a revenue increase of 1.5 per cent last year. While suffering sales of 3D glasses and a fall in screen advertising will bring other income down, Cineworld is looking at a rise of 2.7 per [...]
Regulation can’t wipe out the risk of another Enron January 5, 2012 MOST of us don’t need reminding about the 2001 accounting fraud that became known as the Enron scandal – $11bn of value wiped out in what was at the time the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy ever – and which also brought down Arthur Andersen. On 17 December last year, Enron’s chief financial officer Andrew Fastow [...]
To Bonaparte, with love from China January 2, 2012 THE rich and international do not tire of Paris. Though it was hardly lacking in ultra-luxe period hotels before, the city evidently needed more. And so last year saw the opening of two major hotels, The Mandarin Oriental and the Shangri-La, signifying not only Paris’s ever-ascendant position on the global luxury circuit, but an overt [...]
TAXPAYERS PETITION FOR PRIVATISATION OF THATCHER’S FUNERAL December 22, 2011 WHICH investment bank will underwrite the ticket sales at Margaret Thatcher’s privatised funeral? The Capitalist only asks because, as of last night, more than 14,000 people had signed up to the e-petition posted by Scott Morgan declaring that the Iron Lady’s state funeral should be funded and managed by the private sector. After all, Baroness [...]
Broker Daniel Stewart sinks in the first half December 22, 2011 DANIEL Stewart Securities, one of a clutch of small brokers operating in the City, has posted a first-half loss after the European sovereign debt crisis led to the deals market drying up. The AIM-listed firm made a pre-tax loss of £605,952 for the six months to 30 September, compared to a profit of £190,572 for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 15, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CVC STRUGGLES WITH TERRIBLE RESULTS IN ASIA When CVC raised a $4.12bn Asian buy-out fund in 2008, Marc St John, its head of investor relations, referred to the private equity group’s record in the region when he said investors “like what they see”. A few years and a financial crisis later, investors are [...]
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL UK December 14, 2011 It’s that time of year when the high streets switch on the festive lights and, despite the economic gloom, the shops become busier with Christmas shoppers out in force. Queuing to pay at a cash till here in Oxford yesterday lunchtime, I was reminded of Beauty Munthali, one of our supervisors in the southern region [...]
Hendry hedge fund soars as China slows December 12, 2011 HEDGE fund boss Hugh Hendry (pictured below) has bucked the gloom afflicting rivals and recorded stellar gains on his “China short” fund. The charismatic Glaswegian told City A.M. the fund had returned 52 per cent so far this year. The performance contrasts with a loss of 4.37 per cent for the average global hedge fund, [...]
FTSE tumbles as doubts over Eurozone deal take their toll December 12, 2011 Britain’s FTSE 100 fell in light volume yesterday, with investors selling riskier banking and mining assets as analysts concluded that the lack of detail in a European deal on fiscal union left question marks over its long-term plausibility. London’s blue-chips fell 101.35 points, or 1.8 per cent, to 5,427.86, erasing Friday’s 0.8 per cent rise, [...]