London open: Stocks rebound after recent falls, Vodafone jumps
29th Aug 2013 08:36
Strong gains from Vodafone, WPP and Melrose gave markets in London a boost this morning, as stocks rebounded after some recent falls. Markets have been under pressure this week on concerns about a potential Western military intervention in Syria in response to last week's alleged chemical weapons a
Read moreLondon pre-open: Small rebound expected early on
29th Aug 2013 07:26
UK markets are expected to open slightly higher on Thursday, following in the footsteps of a decent finish on Wall Street the night before following weakness earlier on in the week. Markets have been pressured lower in recent days on concerns about a potential Western military intervention in Syria
Read moreRobust first half at WPP
29th Aug 2013 07:11
Advertising giant WPP revealed a 19 per cent increase in half year pre-tax profit as slowing growth rates among emerging markets were eclipsed by a strong performance among mature markets like North America and the UK. The FTSE 100 listed firm said pre-tax profit jumped 19.4% to £427.1m for the six
Read moreNewspaper round-up: G4S, Centrica, Mark Carney
25th Aug 2013 14:04
An activist investment fund is to double its stake in G4S to 10 per cent, fuelling speculation it will push for a break-up of the security contractor, the Sunday Times said. Cevian Capital, a Scandinavian fund chaired by former City Minister Lord Myners, is already G4S's second-biggest investor with
Read moreLondon close: Economists nudge GDP forecasts higher
23rd Aug 2013 16:26
Equities moved moderately higher on the second to last Friday of the summer despite economic figures out in the afternoon which revealed a far larger than expected fall in new US home sales. Somewhat ironically, at least for now that won equity markets a small reprieve from the recent incessant cl
Read moreFTSE 100 movers: Croda International, WPP, Aggreko
23rd Aug 2013 14:03
Specialty chemical maker Croda International surged after Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' on expectations that top-line growth will pick up. WPP rallied after the advertising agency said its data investment business Kantar acquired The Benenson Strategy Group, a research and c
Read moreWPP's Kantar snaps up Obama polling firm Benenson
23rd Aug 2013 11:20
WPP said its investment management business Kantar had bought Benenson Strategy Group, a US strategic research and consulting firm founded and run by President Obama's top campaign pollster. Chief Executive Officer Joel Benenson, who set up the company in 2000 with Chief Operating Officer Carl Ross
Read moreWPP acquires corporate communications agency
19th Aug 2013 10:16
WPP-owned communications agency, Addison Corp. Marketing, has acquired a majority stake in Emaxol, the holding company of IR Group, an online corporate communications agency. The 65-employee group has clients which include Tesco, BG Group, Centrica, Kingfisher, InterContinental Hotels Group, and T
Read moreWPP expands position in Argentina with latest acquisition
19th Aug 2013 09:27
WPP's activation agency, Geometry Global, has acquired a majority stake in Brandigital, a digital agency in Latin America. The firm, which works with clients in social media, e-commerce, and mobile, generated revenue of AR$19.3m (around £2.21m) for 2012. The Argentine company employs 110 works a
Read moreShare tips: WPP, Balfour Beatty, Centrica, Drax
18th Aug 2013 14:27
The displacement of WPP as the world's biggest advertising agency by the merger of Omnicom and Publicis could be good news for WPP, Simon Duke wrote in the Sunday Times' Inside the City column. WPP, led by Martin Sorrell, earns more from from fast-growing emerging economies and digital ads than its
Read moreWPP's JWT takes majority stake in South Korean digital agency
16th Aug 2013 11:33
WPP said its unit JWT had agreed to buy a majority stake in South Korean digital agency Post Visual which counts Nike, eBay and Google among its clients. It is the latest in a long string of acquisitive deals announced by the advertising giant this month. Seoul-based Post Visual was founded in 20
Read moreFriday broker round-up UPDATE
16th Aug 2013 08:52
African Minerals: Barclays initiates with a target price of 220p and an underweight rating. Aviva: Exane downgrades to neutral with a target price of 403p. Avon Rubber: Investec ups target price from 470p to 500p, but downgrades from add to hold. AZ Electronic Materials: Deutsche Bank reduces tar
Read moreWPP takes minority stake in US outfit Mutual Mobile
15th Aug 2013 17:07
WPP Digital, the digital investment arm of advertising and public relations company WPP, has bought a minority stake in US group Mutual Mobile for an undisclosed sum. Mutual Mobile builds technology products for customers to improve communication and transactions across any mobile devices and all o
Read moreWPP takes majority stake in Brazilian consultancy
9th Aug 2013 09:33
WPP has bolstered its presence in Brazil after its operating company Millward Brown bought a majority stake in a branding valuation consultancy in the country. Based in Sao Paolo in Brazil, BrandAnalytics only employs 12 people but its clients include US retail giant Walmart and Spanish banking gr
Read moreWPP announces two new acquisitions
8th Aug 2013 10:04
FTSE 100 group WPP has acquired a minority stake in SecondSync, an early-stage social TV business, through its wholly-owned data investment management business, Kantar. SecondSync, which has a client list that includes Channel 4, ITV, BBC, Shine and MediaCom, has been acquired to strengthen Kantar
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