WHAT DO BP’S RESULTS INDICATE FOR THE REST OF THE OIL MAJORS? July 28, 2009 GORDON GRAY COLLINS STEWART“While second quarter results showed further evidence of the considerable progress BP has made in its operational recovery, we feel this is largely discounted in valuations, with the stock now back to within six per cent of its 12-month high in sterling terms.” TONY SHEPARD CHARLES STANLEY“BP has some momentum in terms [...]
Bank of America is shrinking July 28, 2009 BANK of America plans to shrink its 6,109-branch United States network after years of expansion. America’s largest bank has denied claims it will shed 10 per cent of its branches – a move that would cost thousands of jobs – but admits there will have to be cuts because more of its customers are using [...]
Segro wins support for its take over fund raising July 28, 2009 PROPERTY group Segro yesterday said it has received 86.53 per cent take-up for its share placing and open offer to raise £250m. The group, which is raising money to secure the takeover of its rival Brixton, said it had received valid acceptances in respect of 51.5m shares. The remaining 13.47 per cent that has not [...]
Private deals gain traction July 28, 2009 APPETITE for private equity backed deals increased during the second quarter, with a 38 per cent increase in the value of deals compared to the first quarter. According to the Candover Unquote Private Equity Barometer, published yesterday, the number of European private equity transactions rose to €4.8bn (£4.1bn) in the period, compared to €3.5bn in [...]
PZ Cussons profits lather up as swine flu epidemic fuels hygiene awareness July 28, 2009 IMPERIAL Leather soap maker PZ Cussons yesterday said it was cleaning up in the swine flu epidemic, reporting a 16 per cent jump in annual pre-tax profits. The group yesterday reported its Carex range of waterless antibacterial hand gels were “performing particularly well” in “a climate where there is additional consumer focus on hand hygiene”. [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 28, 2009 PEARSONGoldman Sachs upgraded Pearson to “Neutral” from “Sell” after seeing some recovery from the publisher’s recent underperformance, and upped the price target by six per cent to 766p. Pearson said that the firm has seen solid first half results and that valuation had dropped more in line with peers. This has resulted in more positive [...]
CITY MOVES Who’s switching jobs July 28, 2009 Noble The independent investment bank has hired Mileen Rash for its equity sales team, Sanjay Vidyarthi as lead analyst covering retail and Marianne Headey as head of roadshows. These appointments further the expansion of Noble’s equities business and corporate broking division, following the recent appointment of Michael Burt to lead research in real estate, and [...]
Treasury refuses to examine cost of EU hedgie crackdown July 28, 2009 CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling is refusing to investigate how much European plans to crackdown on hedge funds will cost the industry. The Treasury has admitted it will not carry out an “impact assessment” on a EU draft law which could damage London’s position as a global hedge fund centre by imposing a strict disclosure regime and [...]
Branson and sheikh go for final frontier July 28, 2009 VIRGIN Galactic’s space flight business is selling a $280m (£170m) stake to Manchester City football club’s Middle Eastern owner. Sir Richard Branson will sell 32 per cent of the company to Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, who last month made a £1.5bn profit selling shares in Barclays. Branson aims to have commercial space flights running [...]
IBM unveils giant SPSS buyout July 28, 2009 IBM unveiled plans to buy business analytics company SPSS yesterday for $1.2bn (£730m) in cash, to better compete with rivals Oracle and SAP in the growing field of business intelligence. The offer, under which SPSS shareholders would get $50 a share, could trigger mass consolidation in the industry.