News

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

BEST OF THE BROKERS

October 12, 2009

BURBERRY GROUPDeutsche Bank raised its target price for Burberry to 620p, with a “buy” recommendation, ahead of the retailer’s second quarter sales update tomorrow. The broker said that expectations appear to be reasonably high, but that it believes that, most significantly, excess inventory will have been cleared through. DUNELM GROUPInvestec said that the recent placing [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

October 12, 2009

Credit SuisseThe bank has appointed François Roussely as a vice chairman in Europe and Pierre Fleuriot as a chief executive of Credit Suisse in France. Roussely joined the firm in 2005, having previously served as chairman and chief executive of Electricité de France between 1998 and 2004. Fleuriot has over 20 years of experience in [...]
Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg told to repay excessive expenses claims

October 12, 2009

GORDON Brown was yesterday told to hand back over £12,400 in parliamentary expenses after making excessive claims for cleaning, gardening and decorating. Downing Street confirmed that Sir Thomas Legg, who is auditing MPs’ claims, had written to Brown ordering him to return £12,415. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was also censured by Legg for claiming [...]
Government must tighten finances by an extra 26bn

October 12, 2009

THE government could balance its books by the year 2015/6 via additional fiscal tightening measures equivalent to £26bn in the next three years, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers will claim today. The report will say the government has a responsibility to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing by 2015/6, two years ahead of [...]
Decline in marketing spend eases

October 12, 2009

THE rate of decline in marketing spend eased sharply in the third quarter of the year, as optimism increased among marketing professionals, according to new research. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising/BDO Bellwether Report showed that UK companies’ spending on advertising fell for the eighth quarter in succession in the period, but the reduction in [...]
RBS APPEASES TAXPAYING PUBLIC BY BRINGING OUT ARTISTIC GEMS

October 12, 2009

AFTER being lambasted in recent months by angry taxpayers-cum-stakeholders baying for blood, it appears that the Royal Bank of Scotland is finally about to give something back. The bank – which is thought to own the largest collection of corporate art in Britain, with over 2,200 pieces – is in talks with museums and collectors [...]
ITV LOSES ITS X-FACTOR

October 12, 2009

ITV’s epic search for new leadership hit a fresh low yesterday after Sir Michael Bishop ruled himself out of the running for chairman. And chief operating officer John Cresswell – who was yesterday appointed interim chief executive – said he would leave as soon as the role was filled permanently, ending ITV’s best chance of [...]
BBA warns on capital rules

October 12, 2009

THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) must produce a cost estimate and a timetable for the tightening of capital requirements on banks or risk damaging the UK economy, British Bankers’ Association (BBA) chief executive Angela Knight will warn today. In a speech at the BBA’s conference on compliance and regulation, Knight will say that banks already [...]
Expenses scandal latest blow for sterling

October 12, 2009

IT was no coincidence that sterling fell yet again yesterday as the expenses scandal flared up once more. The revelation that Gordon Brown is having to reimburse £12,400 – and many other MPs from all parties will have to pay back some of their expenses – can mean only one thing: Britain’s political establishment is [...]
JJBSports in rights issue

October 12, 2009

JJB Sports yesterday revealed it was storming ahead with its £100m rights issue after shareholders were satisfied that rumours surrounding the financial dealings of its chairman Sir David Jones were unfounded. The ailing sportswear chain, which teetered on the brink of collapse earlier this year, said that it would issue 400m new shares at the [...]