News

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

Google plans to print 2m books

September 17, 2009

GOOGLE yesterday unveiled plans to print 2m books after striking a deal with a book printing company. Over the last seven years, Google has been scanning millions of out-of-print books from libraries and made them searchable on the internet. But now bookstores that purchase the Espresso Book Machine – which is made by Google’s partner [...]
ONLINE DRAGONS BREATHING FIRE INTO AN ALL-NEW TELEVISION DEN

September 16, 2009

ANYONE unwinding last night with a glass of wine and a dose of evening telly might have caught sight of a familiar face on the box – Julie Meyer, City PM columnist and founder of Ariadne Capital, who appeared on the first episode of the new Dragons’ Den spin-off show on BBC2. Meyer – who [...]
Losses grow wider at Regal

September 16, 2009

REGAL PETROLEUM, the oil and gas group, reported a widening first-half net loss yesterday, but said it was expecting improved earnings for the next year as funding problems at the group have been resolved. The firm reported a net loss for the six months to the end of June of $7.57m (£4.59m) compared with $5.26m [...]
Recovery in commodities boosts profits at Ambrian

September 16, 2009

NATURAL resources investment bank Ambrian Capital moved back into profit over the first half of the year after total income almost tripled, boosted by a strong performance in the commodities division. Ambrian’s income rose to £10.13m in the six months to June, compared to £3.74m in the first half of 2008. Pre-tax profit came in [...]
De La Rue hit by costs as it restructures

September 16, 2009

BANKNOTE printer De La Rue yesterday said it would be hit by £7.5m of exceptional costs thanks to a revamp at its cash-processing unit and a one-off tax fee. The firm, which prints notes in 150 national currencies, has been forced to pump £5m in to overhaul the underperforming unit, which makes banknote-sorting machines and [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

September 16, 2009

SAINT GOBAINGoldman Sachs removed Saint Gobain from its “buy” list and downgraded the stock to “neutral” following a period of outperformance. The broker upgraded its 12-month target price to €39, from €31.4, but said that there is limited upside relative to the sector average. Upside risks include stronger-than-expected rebound in European construction activity and faster [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

September 16, 2009

DeloitteThe business advisory firm has hired Carl Bates and Ed Marsden as partners in its technology, media and telecoms (TMT) data team. Both join from Detica, where Bates, pictured, was managing director for the UK consulting business and Marsden led the TMT practice. Bates also previously spent four years as a director at Deloitte, while [...]
Tech firm woes to hit new high

September 16, 2009

The number of business failures in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector is set to peak at 2,360 in 2010, exceeding levels seen in the aftermath of the dot-com bust. According to the latest Industry Watch report by accountants and business advisors, BDO Stoy Hayward, the business failure rate will peak at 1.5 per [...]
Cattles creditor talks progressing

September 16, 2009

Beleaguered sub-prime lender Cattles yesterday said talks with its creditors to obtain a standstill agreement on its debt were progressing, adding that both sides are currently considering a draft of the heads of terms for an agreement. However, Cattles said it would not be appropriate to reveal details on the specific provisions in the draft, [...]
Sun on the horizon for UK hotels

September 16, 2009

The UK hotel industry will soon be over the worst of the downturn, a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers claims today. The firm predicts that revenue per available room (Revpar) will fall 12.1 per cent overall this year, but that this will slow to a 2.4 per cent decline in 2010. It also said the fall [...]