News

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

JPM Caz still dominating adviser arena

August 31, 2009

JP MORGAN Cazenove comfortably retained its broking and financial advisory dominance over the third quarter of the year, according to the latest statistics from financial data group Hemscott. JP Morgan Cazenove gained eight broking clients, increasing its total tally to 236, of which 40 were FTSE 100 firms. Numis Securities and Brewin Dolphin rank second [...]
Channel Five owner posts a profit slump

August 31, 2009

GERMANY’S Bertelsmann posted a 30 per cent drop in first-half operating profit due to a decline in advertising and consumer spending and said cost cuts had held off worse results. The owner of Channel Five parent company RTL Group, which reported results last week, and publisher Random House, implemented strict cost savings earlier in the [...]
Experts warn that volatile markets loom

August 31, 2009

THE FTSE 100 is set to breach the 5,000 mark for the first time in ten months this week, but strategists warn that the rally could be misleading and that volatility lies ahead. The benchmark index closed one per cent up at 4,908.90 on Friday – having hit a session high earlier in the day [...]
IS THE FTSE 100 RALLY A TRUE REFLECTION OF MARKET VALUES?

August 31, 2009

HENK POTTS BARCLAYS WEALTH“The earnings season has given more support than anticipated, largely because firms have cut back. In the short-term we have to be a lot more cautious. But in the long term, if we are going into a period of recovery and companies are leaner and meaner, we are looking at some great [...]
Nikkei cool on poll outcome

August 31, 2009

JAPAN’S Nikkei stock index ended the day down yesterday as an early boost from Sunday’s landslide election victory for the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) over the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was quickly reversed. The benchmark Nikkei-225 closed down 0.4 per cent at 10,492.53, despite gaining 196.78 points, or 1.87 per cent in the [...]
DISNEY TO PAY $4BN FOR MARVEL HEROES

August 31, 2009

WALT Disney said yesterday that it plans to net Spiderman’s parent, Marvel Entertainment, for $4bn (£2.5bn), as the entertainment empire attempts to broaden its appeal to a young male audience. The biggest media deal of the year so far will unite the Incredible Hulk and Mickey Mouse, and see some of Marvel’s 5,000 hugely popular [...]
US regulator warns brokers to cut out risky sales tactics

August 31, 2009

THE head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission Mary Schapiro last night issued a stern warning to chief executives at brokerage firms about questionable incentives. In an open letter to businesses Schapiro said: “certain forms of potential compensation may carry with them enhanced risks to customers.” Schapiro cautioned that some types of compensation practices [...]
Media heads back Murdoch

August 31, 2009

THE FORMER editor of the Guardian Peter Preston has said that the whole of the media industry supports News Corp chief executive James Murdoch’s view that the BBC should charge for its on-line news content. The comments, posted on Preston’s Guardian blog, follow Murdoch’s attack on the BBC in an address at the Edinburgh International [...]
Dresdner acquisition was right choice, says Commerzbank boss

August 31, 2009

COMMERZBANK chief executive Martin Blessing has defended his firm’s decision to acquire Dresdner Bank for €5bn (£4.4bn) at the height of the financial crisis last year. The bank has faced criticism from some shareholders for pushing through the transaction amid such volatile conditions. But Blessing said: “We have taken the right decision and I am [...]
Regulators are stuck in the silly season

August 31, 2009

TODAY is officially back to school day for City workers and businesses across London, with the last holidaymakers finally back at their desks – it is a shame, therefore, that so many politicians, regulators and commentators remain so hopelessly stuck in the silly season. As so often these days, it is Lord Turner, the City’s [...]