News

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

CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

October 26, 2009

KPMGThe accountancy firm’s forensic practice has recruited Nigel Layton, the founder of specialist corporate investigations firm Quest, as a director in the corporate intelligence team. Layton set up Quest in 1995 and has since built up its reputation via cases including an inquiry for the Premier League into allegations of irregular payments surrounding certain football [...]
Cornering the watch market

October 26, 2009

MONACO V4, BY TAG HEUER£65,000www.tagheuer.com CAPE COD GRANDES HEURES, BY HERMES£5,965www.hermes.com DA VINCI, BY IWC£4,500www.iwc.com FACET WATCH, BY DUNHILLPrice to be confirmedwww.dunhill.com VINTAGE 1965 LIMITED EDITION, BY ZENITH£8,900www.zenith-watches.com
Showing off some silky skills

October 26, 2009

THERE are two schools of thought when it comes to what to wear in the breast pocket of a suit. You can keep it cool and crisp with a clean white pocket square, or you can embrace your inner dandy and go for something silky, patterned and flowing foppishly against your lapel. For the normal [...]
Pawn industry gets a boost from the woes of City slickers

October 26, 2009

THE old-fashioned interior of Suttons & Robertsons isn’t really the kind of place you’d associate with cutting-edge modern art. Across the road from Victoria station, the venerable pawnbroking establishment – London’s oldest – with its oak-lined, private pledge booths in which customers can exchange expensive items in return for a loan, harks back to an [...]
OUT OF OFFICE

October 26, 2009

HAPPY HOUR AT GREEN’S RUNNER BARLeave work before seven this week and you’ll be in time for cut-price drinks at the Runner Bar at Green’s: 50 per cent off house cocktails, wine and beers from 5:30 to 7pm. If that’s not tempting enough, the bar is offering free live jazz this Wednesday and Friday too. [...]
Caterpillar to cull jobs even as sales grow

October 26, 2009

CATERPILLAR, the world’s biggest maker of heavy machinery, said yesterday it plans to permanently axe 2,500 workers even as increasing demand will allow it to recall some employees who were laid off during the economic downturn. Caterpillar has already brought back some workers, and estimates that due to signs of recovery in the global economy, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

October 26, 2009

STANDARD CHARTEREDMorgan Stanley upgraded Standard Chartered to “equalweight”, with an increased price target of 1,500p, due to lower credit costs and better wholesale revenues. But the broker noted that, if growth slows, asset quality could again suffer and that the recent excellent growth in wholesale may be unsustainable. AEGISNoble downgraded Aegis from “positive” to “neutral” [...]
McBride shares rocket on uplift

October 26, 2009

McBride, Europe’s biggest maker of retailer own-brand household products, yesterday said it was trading ahead of internal expectations, boosted by foreign exchange gains and consumers switching to own-brand products. The group said it expects to increase its forecast for pre-tax profit in the year to end-June 2010 by about £6m to about £42m. The group’s [...]
German confidence falls

October 26, 2009

German consumer sentiment declined for the first time in just over a year going into November, weighed down by lower income expectations and a diminished willingness to buy, data showed yesterday. The consumer sentiment indicator from GfK market research eased slightly to 4.0 for November from a downwardly revised 4.2 for October – its first [...]
Electrolux posts leap in earnings

October 26, 2009

Electrolux, the world’s second-biggest home appliances maker, posted a much larger than expected core third-quarter profit yesterday thanks to cost cuts, stable prices and lower raw material costs. Quarterly earnings before interest and tax rose to 2.23bn Swedish crowns (£200m), excluding extraordinary items, from 1.18bn Swedish crowns a year ago.