Banks in retreat after Portugal downgrade July 6, 2011 The FTSE 100 lost ground on opening today after Moody’s cut Portugal’s credit rating to “junk” sending banking shares down. As the Eurozone crisis deepened investors abandoned risky equities as banks’ exposure to the crisis in the eurozone came under the spotlight. The euro fell sharply after the Moody’s four-notch downgrade to Ba2, with the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 5, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES RWE CONSIDERS PULLING THE PLUG ON NPOWER On the banks of the River Trent, a new gas-fired power station at Staythorpe represents a £650m investment by Npower, the UK subsidiary of the German utility RWE, in Britain’s energy future. Yet RWE has been reviewing its strategic options, advised by Goldman Sachs, as it grapples [...]
Africa helps boost Tullow Oil revenue July 5, 2011 TULLOW OIL said it expected to post record revenues of $1.05bn (£0.65bn) for the first half of the year as it ramps up output in Africa. Higher oil prices and steady production at its Jubilee Field in Ghana will help boost the firm’s first-half revenues, the FTSE 100 oil and gas explorer said in a [...]
Cenkos chief Simon Melling steps down July 4, 2011 SIMON Melling, chief executive of mid-market stockbroker Cenkos, resigned after two years at the helm yesterday. The 50-year-old is believed to be leaving for personal reasons after a City career spanning 23 years. Melling became Cenkos’ chief executive two years ago after serving as its chief operating officer and finance director since its listing on [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 30, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MAD MEN PARENT EYES STARDOM The dapper, hard-drinking, advertising executives of Mad Men made the show one of the big television hits of recent years. Now Mad Men’s parent company is vying to be a star on the stock market. Shares in AMC Networks will begin regular trading on the Nasdaq today, following [...]
BARRED: MOBILE BOSS TALKS HIS WAY INTO HIS OWN GLASTO PARTY June 30, 2011 IF YOUR name’s not down, you’re coming in – not even if your name is Tom Alexander, chief executive of Everything Everywhere, and you are trying to get in to your own party at Glastonbury. As the other partygoers got stuck in to the free drinks inside the VIP farmhouse rented by the mobile phone [...]
Daisy Group is meeting forecasts June 28, 2011 Telecoms firm Daisy Group forecast trading for the current financial year at the upper end of current expectations after posting a near-flat full-year loss. The firm also said chief financial officer Anthony Riley had stepped down to pursue other interests. Steve Smith will take over from Riley. The firm’s pre-tax loss was £19.7m on revenue [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 27, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES MICROSOFT LAUNCHES CLOUD OFFICE Microsoft is set to place one of its biggest bets yet on cloud computing with the launch of Office 365, an online version of its most widely used business software. The software company’s belated push online with one of its core businesses comes more than four years after Google [...]
US stock rise may only be short-lived June 27, 2011 US stocks rose from three days of losses yesterday, led by banks after news of more favourable capital requirements and optimism over Greece’s austerity plan, but investors cautioned against high hopes. Yesterday’s gains were a welcome sign but investors were cautious about reading too much into them. The S&P 500 has fallen as much as [...]
Inflation held up by steeper food prices June 14, 2011 INFLATION is widely expected to balloon past five per cent in the coming months, after rising food costs held the consumer price index to a two-and-a-half year high of 4.5 per cent in May. May’s steady rate on the CPI “represents just a temporary pause in an upward trend which could take inflation to 5.5 [...]