Serco’s share price soars after forecasting a sunny future with raised profit guidance September 28, 2018 Shares at Serco soared almost 15 per cent in early morning trading, as the outsourcing giant trumped City expectations after lifting its full-year profit guidance. The FTSE 250 group said it now expects underlying trading profit between £90-£95m, marking a stark rise from the previous estimates of around £69.8m reported last year. Shares jumped more than 14 per [...]
Last Week in the City: Trade fears re-emerge August 3, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (30 July to 3 August 2018). Interest rates were raised in the UK for the second time since the financial crisis, but the move was widely expected. The earnings season continued. Growth in all regions was [...]
Last Week in the City: Amazon buys a pharmacy June 29, 2018 Garry White, chief investment commentator, looks at the market-moving events that have shaped the UK equity markets this week (25 to 29 June 2018). The FTSE 100 traded little over the week, despite a rally in oil prices. There was more bad news from the retail sector after The John Lewis Partnership warned on profits [...]
Ministers can learn from Capita’s candid chief executive Jon Lewis April 24, 2018 Turnaround specialists need to be straight-shooters and Capita boss Jon Lewis is no exception. Lewis yesterday delivered a refreshingly candid assessment of the company’s current standing and the difficulties it faces. According to Lewis, the firm’s top brass had never looked further than a year ahead. In his own words, they had no strategy. For [...]
Carillion collapse: Scores of Newcastle jobs saved by Clifford Chance | City A.M. February 14, 2018 Magic circle law firm Clifford Chance today snapped up a law firm run by failed contractor Carillion. Some 60 jobs have been saved at the Newcastle base of Carillion Advice Services (CAS) – a paralegal and commodity managed legal services firm. Originally developed as part of Carillion’s in-house legal team, the firm started supporting third [...]
Capita share price drops more than a third: This is how City analysts and experts reacted January 31, 2018 Outsourcing giant Capita announced the suspension of its dividend as part of a transformation plan this morning – and shares duly plunged by more than 40 per cent. The group has been struggling with a subdued market for some time now: former boss Andy Parker stood down last year after revealing a 33 per cent [...]
If the government is bold, a phoenix could rise from the ashes of Carillion January 23, 2018 There will be plenty of lessons to learn from the demise of Carillion, but what is going to be recovered from this mess? Just another me-too corporation, or something new and refreshing? With backing from ministers, and some daring, something fundamentally inspiring is possible. The Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee has already announced our [...]
Norway’s massive sovereign wealth fund sells out of BAE Systems, AECOM, Fluor Corp, Korea Line Corp, Evergreen Marine Corp in an ethics push January 16, 2018 Norway’s massive $1.1 trillion (£777bn) sovereign wealth fund has pulled its investment in UK defence company BAE Systems, as it continues an ethical push. The fund – which has traditionally focused on oil, but decided to ditch oil and gas investments last year – has also sold off its stake in another eight companies as [...]
Compass CEO Richard Cousins and family killed in plane crash: The City pays tribute January 2, 2018 Tributes have been paid to the FTSE 100 chief executive who was killed alongside his family in a New Year’s Eve plane crash. Richard Cousins, 58, the outgoing CEO of the world’s largest catering firm, Compass Group, died in a seaplane crash near Sydney Harbour on 31 December 2017. Also killed were Cousins’s two sons [...]
G4S wins another government tagging contract for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) despite £109m fraud scandal and ongoing probe July 9, 2017 G4S, the security services company which appears unable to do any wrong, has won a new tagging contract despite a fraud scandal which saw it repay almost £109m to the government. Read more: G4S agrees to tagging payout as profits slide The Ministry of Justice confirmed that G4S has again been selected to supply tagging [...]