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’Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Thursday,
- BA, Iberia sign long-awaited merger agreement – statement.
- M&S Q4 sales growth tops forecasts – statement.
- Spain’s Banesto reports €211.5m Q1 net profit – Reuters.
CDS report: Bouncing back
European credit-derivative indices bounced back on Tuesday along with equity markets, although some analysts said the move was predictable following Monday’s sell-off. The day, nevertheless, is expected to be relatively quiet.
Snap news
Breaking pre-market news on Tuesday,
- VW hedges give Porsche €6.8bn windfall – statement.
- Fortis plunges to €28bn 2008 loss on banking – statement.
- Shire and GlaxoSmithKline enter agreement to co-promote Vyvanse – statement.
This is not just any divi cut. This is…
… a M&S dividend cut.
Now ordinarily, talk of a divi cut at M&S would be a mid-week market rumour we’d let pass us by. Especially since M&S shares closed up today, albeit by only 0.3 per cent. But we can’t let it go because we came across this…
Highstreet crunchiness
The all-important Christmas sales figures are starting to come through for the UK retailers with both Debenhams and Next reporting on Tuesday morning.
Debt-laden Debenhams posted a 3.5 per cent drop in underlying sales for the 18 weeks to Jan 3,
Auto de fé
In the US, the debate is hotting up over the automobile industry’s access to state aid. The WSJ reports today that Dems are seeking to outflank the immobile Republican administration with a broadside from the Hill;
CDS report: Cost of protecting Marks and Spencer debt soars
The cost of protecting Marks and Spencer’s debt against default jumped to its highest level since 2005 on Wednesday after the retailer reported a drop in sales, stoking fears of a consumer slowdown and recession in the UK.
M&S’s Rose wants a return to ‘big league’
Stuart Rose, Marks and Spencer’s chief executive, pinpointed international stores and the internet as growth areas Tuesday as he sketched out the retailer’s longer-term future and said he wanted to move the retailer back into the “big league” after sales hit a record high on the back of a three-year turnround programme.
M&S prepares for succession
Marks and Spencer will on Wednesday announce a reshuffle of its top team with the arrival of two new senior executives as Stuart Rose, chief executive, steps up efforts to identify and groom his successor before his planned departure in less than two years.
M&S rebuffed as Green decides to stay at Tesco
Terry Green is staying on as head of clothing at the Tesco supermarket chain. That is in spite of holding early-stage talks with his old colleague and friend Stuart Rose about moving and taking a senior position at Marks and Spencer,
M&S shops for Tesco clothes chief
Terry Green, head of clothing at Tesco, is understood to be considering jumping ship to rival Marks and Spencer less than two years after he was charged with raising Tesco’s profile in the fashion stakes.
He opened his mouth – and put his foot in it
Stuart Rose’s seemingly carefree remarks over a “glass of wine” about a possible bid for J Sainsbury on Tuesday night prompted a hasty correction in a formal statement from Marks and Spencer in the cold light of day.
Lunch Wrap – FT Alphaville’s midday roundup
FT Alphaville’s Lunch Wrap is a round up of the top news and views on FT Alphaville and FT.com as at noon, London time.
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- Why did the markets stumble on Tuesday? The answer may lie in the land of the rising sun
CDS report: European junk-rated credit derivative prices fall
The cost of buying protection against default on junk-rated bonds in Europe fell on Thursday morning as the market recovered more of its losses following the world wide equity sell off on Tuesday.
The European iTraxx Crossover index,
Rose digs hole with talk of Sainsbury bid
Stuart Rose, chief executive of Marks and Spencer, confirmed on Wednesday that he was considering a takeover bid for J Sainsbury – and then ruled it out. “It’s an interesting idea because assets like this don’t come on the market very often,
CDS report: Iesy plays a blinder
German media group Iesy, a unit of Unity Media, was the biggest mover in the European credit derivatives market on Thursday after its sports rights unit Arena struck a deal with pay-TV channel Premiere to broadcast and market the Bundesliga football channel.
M&S weighs up merits of Sainsbury bid
Executives at Marks & Spencer have been weighing up the merits of a bid for J Sainsbury, prompted by the news that private equity groups are planning an offer for Britain’s third largest retailer, the Times reports.
Markets live transcript 9 Jan 2007
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:43 on 9 Jan 2007. Participants in this chat were: Paul Murphy (PM) Neil Hume (NH)
PM: Welcome to Markets Live, Alphaville’s daily discussion of what’s moving and why.
Markets live transcript 22 Dec 2006
Markets live chat transcript for the chat ending at 11:56 on 22 Dec 2006. Participants in this chat were: Helen Thomas (HT) Neil Hume (NH)
HT: Good morning – welcome ot the last Markets Live of 2006!!
HT: