Caledonian MacBrayne wins £900m ferry contract in Scotland May 19, 2016 Caledonian MacBrayne has won a £900m contract to operate the Clyde and Hebrides Ferries Network after stiff competition from Serco. CalMac, which is state owned, had to compete against Serco Caledonian Ferries Limited to continue running the service after EU rules meant the Scottish government was forced to open up the network to competitive bids. The [...]
Cameron under fire over claims he backed remain, even while negotiating with EU May 17, 2016 Prime Minister David Cameron has come under fire from Leave campaigners after he reportedly wrote to business leaders to discuss a Remain campaign strategy even before sealing a renegotiated deal with the EU. According to the Daily Mail, Cameron wrote to Serco boss Rupert Soames just under two weeks before his renegotiation was complete. In a [...]
EU referendum: Asda, HSBC, Vodafone and nearly 200 sign letter saying Brexit would threaten jobs – but Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s are not on the list February 23, 2016 The bosses of HSBC, BT, Vodafone and Asda are among those to have put their name to an open letter backing the remain camp and Prime Minister David Cameron's reforms in Europe. More than a third of the UK's biggest companies were represented in the letter, which was published in The Times this morning, saying they represented [...]
Majority of British public think companies receiving taxpayer’s money should be subject to Freedom of Information laws – 38 Degrees February 8, 2016 Six in 10 Brits believe Freedom of Information (FOI) laws should apply to companies receiving taxpayers' money to provide public services, according to a new poll released today. The survey, commissioned by campaigns group 38 Degrees and carried out by YouGov, showed only 10 per cent of the British public would oppose applying FOI laws to [...]
Supergroup and Serco: Best of the Brokers for 16 December 2015 December 16, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SUPERGROUP Fashion retailer Supergroup saw shares plummet after a note from Liberum downgrading its rating from “buy” to “hold” with a target price of 1,500p. The broker cited concerns over competition and excess inventory for the company’s label Superdry, which had led to [...]
Share price of Peppa Pig maker Entertainment One plummets as brokers’ sentiment falls December 8, 2015 Entertainment One's share price plummeted in late morning trade after a number of brokers either reduced their target price or downgraded the company's stock. Shares were down 11.51 per cent at 156p per share, leading the FTSE 250 lower, which was itself 0.38 per cent down at 17,290 points. Read more: eOne brings home the bacon as profits fly The company's share price [...]
Serco forecasts trading ahead of expectations for 2015 – but 2016 forecast pushes share price lower December 7, 2015 Is the iceberg-bound supertanker that is outsourcing giant Serco finally turning around? The company said this morning it expects 2015 trading "ahead of previous guidance". But investors weren't impressed: shares fell 8.6 per cent to 104.4p in early trading. Perhaps that was to do with expectations of a "further decline" in both revenues and trading [...]
City Moves for 12 November 2015 | Who’s switching jobs November 11, 2015 Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Michael Bond has been appointed mid markets relationship director in the bank’s technology, media and telecommunications team in London. He previously held a similar role at Lloyds, looking after clients in the education, communities and government sector across the South East. State Street Global Advisors State Street’s asset management arm has [...]
Equiniti Group set for £390m London float October 2, 2015 Investor services firm Equiniti Group confirmed its plans to float on the stock market today. Equiniti, which provides share registration and investor services, said it planned to raise £390m through the float on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. The company intends to use proceeds from the IPO to reduce debt, which currently stands at £440m, and pursue potential [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 September 2015 September 18, 2015 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com SERCO GROUP Berenberg thought yesterday’s £250m sale of offshore operations BPO to Blackstone was a turnaround and updated its rating from “sell” to “hold”, with a target price unchanged at 100p for public services contractor Serco. The disposal brought the company’s debt back [...]