News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

King to give evidence in Lords

November 22, 2009

Bank of England governor Mervyn King will tomorrow be called before the House of Lords economic affairs committee to give evidence on the current outlook for the UK economy. The committee is preparing to grill King on the Bank’s economic growth forecasts, the economic impact of the growing fiscal deficit, the policy of quantitative easing [...]
John Lewis sales up boost

November 22, 2009

High street retailer John Lewis yesterday reported it had rung £78.54m through its tills last week – 15 per cent more than the same week last year. The retailer said that it was boosted by a jump in toy sales, games and men’s fashions – helped by the start of Christmas shopping. The group also [...]
Shell in Essar stake buy talks

November 22, 2009

Royal Dutch Shell is in talks to buy 10 per cent of India’s Essar Oil as part of a deal where it would sell three European refineries to the Indian firm. At current market prices, the stake would be worth $364m (£220m). Besides the stake sale, Essar is also looking at raising $1.5bn in debt [...]
Shop owners to give nod to Blacks deal

November 22, 2009

LANDLORDS are expected to today accept a proposal by embattled retailer Blacks Leisure that will allow it to exit leases on 89 stores in a bid to turn around its business. Landlords, both independent and the listed real estate companies like British Land and Land Securities , are said to be “spitting blood” that they [...]
ITV and M&S bosses can add long-term value

November 22, 2009

Last week two of the UK’s biggest companies named new leaders. The appointments added hundreds of millions of pounds to the value of the businesses. But how much long-term value can a new boss add? Consider the pedigree of the men in question; both undoubtedly impressive. Marks & Spencer snared Marc Bolland as its new [...]
Wealth manager targets family offices

November 22, 2009

WEALTH management firm Spencer-Churchill Miller Private (SCM Private) , run by star fund manager Alan Miller, plans to target family offices, expecting them to outsource more of their investment management. Meetings are arranged with ten family offices, with collective assets of around £15bn, and further London presentations are planned in the first quarter of 2010. [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

November 22, 2009

Legal & General PropertyThe property investment group has hired Simon Russian as senior fund manager of retail development.Russian was previously head of retail and development director at Wilson Bowden Developments, which he joined in 1995. In his new role, he will be responsible for strategically managing the firm’s retail development projects and working with the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

November 22, 2009

ARK THERAPEUTICSKBC Peel Hunt has reduced its target price for Ark Therapeutics from 20p to 15p, and repeated its “sell” recommendation. Non-payment of fees lost the pharmaceutical company a licence from Circadian Technologies, and Peel Hunt believes arbitration could take 12 months. Concerns also linger over a brain cancer treatment. RANK GROUPPanmure Gordon has repeated [...]
Now’s the time to shoot the puppy

November 22, 2009

ALL professions lend themselves to slang, but few are as fertile as the City and Wall Street. Since the term “credit crunch” emerged, a host of other terms have entered the lexicon. A year ago quantitative easing was just an arcane – if tongue-twisting – bit of economic theory. Now it is part of the [...]
DOWNTURN LANGUAGE SWEARING BY IT

November 22, 2009

Has workplace language really changed in the downturn? Of course, new words have entered our vocabularies. Some have a sort of grim humour, and presumably aim to cheer up miserable workers. Take words such as the “brokefast” – ie, not having breakfast. Or the renaming of the American 401(k) pension plan scheme as the 201(k), [...]