Savills profit up but Asia could drag March 17, 2011 REAL ESTATE consultant Savills posted an 88 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £47.3m yesterday but warned that transactions in Asia are likely to fall this year in the wake of the Japanese disaster. The firm has evacuated all but one of its 70 Tokyo staff to the west of the country but said [...]
Fear and loathing stalk the global financial markets March 15, 2011 EVERYTHING always seems to go wrong at the same time. Global investors are always extraordinarily naïve about geopolitics and natural disasters; they have suddenly awoken from their stupor and realised that the world is a much more dangerous place that they thought. The earthquake in Japan, a devastating catastrophe for that country, was the tipping [...]
Collins Stewart brand to add Hawkpoint March 15, 2011 MID-CAP broker Collins Stewart is to re-brand itself to reflect its growing number of joint mandates with its recent acquisition, Hawkpoint. The resulting entity, Collins Stewart Hawkpoint, would only use the new name for specific advisory work and is subject to shareholder approval. The announcement came as the broker posted a moderate increase in earnings [...]
IG Group warns on tough final quarter despite revenue increase March 10, 2011 BRITISH spread-betting company IG Group yesterday warned it would face tough comparatives in the final quarter of the year after it posted revenue up ten per cent in the third-quarter due to increasing client activity. IG said volatility which typically boosts client activity had been generally low in the last quarter and particularly subdued in [...]
Even an alien apocalypses can be dull March 10, 2011 Film BATTLE: LOS ANGELES Cert: 12a Only in Steven Spielberg’s head do aliens ever come in peace. So here they are invading once again, superior to us in numbers, technology, firepower and tentacles. Just like Independence Day, War of the Worlds, District 9, last year’s terribly bad Skyline, last year’s terribly good Monsters and any [...]
UK in manufacturing bounce back March 10, 2011 Manufacturing output rebounded more than expected in January to rise at its fastest monthly pace in 10 months, after firms made up for a weather-related drop in output in December, official data showed on Thursday. The Office for National Statistics said manufacturing output rose one per cent in January, more than reversing a 0.1 per [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BARCLAYS WINS SUIT OVER SALE RISK LEVEL Barclays has won a legal case brought against it by a small San Marino bank which alleged the UK bank sold it complex debt products which were “much riskier” than the triple A credit rating they had been given. Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San [...]
Why filling in the census improves your life March 9, 2011 SO, how old are you? Have you ever been married? Who do you live with? Do you have a mortgage? How many bedrooms do you have? What religion are you? Yes, it might feel like Big Brother plopped on our doormats this week. The 2011 census asks questions that probably many of us would find [...]
Nomura appoints its first ever female chief financial officer March 7, 2011 JAPANESE bank Nomura has appointed its first ever female chief financial officer (CFO) as part of a reshuffle. Junko Nakagawa was previously co-deputy CFO at the lender and, will step up to join the executive management board. The changes come as Nomura diversifies its operations to better compete globally. Since the purchase of the non-US [...]
Latin America drives sales at Michael Page March 7, 2011 RECRUITER Michael Page has posted improved profits for 2010, driven by its expansion into emerging markets. Gross profit for the year rose 23.8 per cent to £442.2m, with 72 per cent of the company’s profit generated overseas. The fastest-growing market was the Americas, driven by expansion into Chile – the firm’s fourth Latin American market [...]