News

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

BEST OF THE BROKERS

November 3, 2009

RYANAIRRBS said that there is a lack of visibility on Ryanair’s equity, as it reiterated its “buy” rating with a reduced target price of 350p. The broker highlighted the airline’s uncertain growth rate as it comes to terms with the maturing of its business, and said that getting Boeing to engage in serious aircraft negotiation [...]
Madoff accountant pleads guilty to fraud but denies knowledge of Ponzi

November 3, 2009

THE former accountant to convicted Ponzi fraudster Bernard Madoff yesterday pleaded guilty to fraud and other charges in connection with auditing work for Madoff – but maintained he had no knowledge of the Ponzi scheme. The judge ordered David Friehling to remain free on bond of $2.5m (£1.5m) until he is sentenced next year. “At [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

November 3, 2009

Gleacher ShacklockThe corporate advisory firm has appointed Peter Alcaraz as a senior adviser, effective from next spring.Alcaraz, who will be tasked with helping to develop the firm’s franchise in the services sector, joins from Close Brothers Corporate Finance, where he was most recently a managing director and head of the services sector team. He has [...]
J&J to make 8,000 job cuts

November 3, 2009

THE world’s largest health-products group Johnson & Johnson yesterday said it would axe 8,190 staff. The move will cull between six to seven per cent of the company’s 117,000 workforce, with the axe falling across the globe. Johnson&Johnson said the job cuts were part of a major restructuring plan designed to save up to $1.7bn [...]
Och Ziff tops Wall Street forecasts but assets dip

November 3, 2009

HEDGE fund firm Och-Ziff Capital Management yesterday said distributable earnings for the third quarter fell 35 per cent on lower assets under management – but still topped Wall Street forecasts. Och-Ziff, one of only a small number of publicly-traded hedge fund firms, said it earned $34.2m (£21m), or eight cents per distributable share, down from [...]
GSK and Pfizer launch new firm

November 3, 2009

GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer yesterday announced the launch of a new HIV company, ViiV Healthcare, dedicated to delivering advances in HIV treatment. Chief executive Dominique Limet yesterday promised a “relentless pursuit” of new treatments. The new company has a mandate to pool the two firms’ existing HIV treatments and drug pipelines. GSK is contributing 90 per [...]
MasterCard beats expectations

November 3, 2009

MasterCard reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings yesterday as the world's second-largest credit card network raised fees to banks and cut expenses, while consumers used their debit cards more. "I believe the worst is behind us and there are certainly some encouraging signs in the recent economic data," chief executive Robert Selander said. MasterCard's third-quarter net income [...]
Air New Zealand buys 14 Airbuses

November 3, 2009

Air New Zealand will buy 14 new Airbus planes at a cost of around $1bn (£569m) to replace its domestic fleet of Boeings, the national carrier said yesterday. The move follows what European planemaker Airbus called an “intensive and robust” face-off between the world’s only makers of large passenger aircraft as airlines remain mired in [...]
ABF cheers as Primark sales surge

November 3, 2009

BUDGET fashion store Primark yesterday reported a surge in sales, boosting profits at parent firm Associated British Foods and offsetting weaknesses in other divisions. Primark has recently embarked on a massive expansion, opening 12 stores in the year, to take advantage of consumers trading down to lower priced clothes. The firm, which now has 191 [...]
Stagecoach warns on its growth plan

November 3, 2009

STAGECOACH, the bus and rail group which was jilted by rival National Express in its takeover bid last week, said yesterday its revenue growth remained constrained due to tough trading conditions. But profitability since May was in line with expectations, while like-for-like revenues at its rail arm in the UK grew 1.7 per cent in [...]