News

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

Defence and security expo draws rebels

September 8, 2009

ANTI-WAR protests hit the capital yesterday, as the world’s largest fully integrated defence and security exhibition got underway. Controversy has hit the event particularly hard this year, as it sees the largest contingent of Libyan arms dealers ever to visit the UK. The show comes soon after the release of the Lockerbie bomber, which sparked [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

September 8, 2009

MARKS & SPENCERAfter reviewing the autumn merchandise and its own forecasts, Investec raised its full-year 2010 pre-tax profit estimate for Marks & Spencer to £530m, from £475m, based on stronger gross margin progress than in previous guidance. However, the broker believes that some of the margin recovery booked in 2009/10 will make 2010/11 progress harder, [...]
DSG hires ex-Majestic Wine boss

September 8, 2009

DSG International, which owns the Currys and PC World chains, has drafted in former Majestic Wine boss Tim How as a non-executive director to help it get back on track. How previously led a management buyout of the wine warehouse chain in 1989, taking it through an Aim flotation in 1996 until he eventually left [...]
Redstone cuts earnings forecasts

September 8, 2009

IT and communications firm Redstone yesterday cut its earnings forecasts for the year as it admitted talks with Eckoh Technologies regarding a loan facility had not yet been successful. The firm now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between £5m and £6m, well below its previous forecast of £7.5m-£8m. Redstone, which [...]
STM profits take a battering

September 8, 2009

Cross-border financial services provider STM Group yesterday said its first-half profits had almost been wiped out by underperformance at its Jersey office and insurance division. STM saw its interim pre-tax profit fall to £0.18m from £1.43m a year ago, causing broker Evolution Securities to cut its rating on the stock from “buy” to “neutral”. But [...]
SACCapital rehires staff it dismissed in January as it revitalises London arm

September 8, 2009

SAC Capital, the hedge fund firm founded by New York billionaire Steven Cohen, is understood to have hired back two London traders it had previously dismissed. The group has welcomed back David Morant and Ben Halfacre this week, nine months after they were let go as the group slimmed down amid precipitous losses for the [...]
Plus Markets dangles a carrot for market makers

September 8, 2009

INDEPENDENT stock exchange Plus Markets yesterday announced that it will launch a liquidity scheme as it attempts to attract more equity trading onto its platform. Plus, which has recently gained approval to trade Aim-listed securities, said that the Plus Liquidity Scheme will encourage market makers to direct their reported flow to the exchange by enabling [...]
German trade data starting to improve

September 8, 2009

GERMAN exports rose for the third consecutive month in July, widening the country’s trade surplus to €12.4bn (£10.9bn) and raising hopes that a recovery is underway in Europe’s biggest economy. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, exports rose 2.3 per cent in July on the previous month to €68.4bn, while imports remained unchanged at €55.9bn. Economists had [...]
Britons more bullish on jobs and outlook

September 8, 2009

BRITISH consumers are more confident about the future economic situation and sentiment about the present has also improved, the Nationwide consumer confidence survey will say today. The survey indicates that all the confidence indices rose during August with the expectations index rising by three points to 94. The present situation index, which has generally been [...]
USconsumers cut borrowing as unemployment starts to bite

September 8, 2009

US consumers slashed their borrowings by a record $21.6bn (£13bn) in July, the Federal Reserve said last night. Total US consumer credit fell at a 10.4 per cent annual rate to $2.47 trillion, suggesting that households were shying away from credit amid rising unemployment. Analysts were expecting a much smaller $4bn decline in July after [...]