Reed Elsevier is UK’s biggest internet stock 26 Apr 2005 Yet it trades on only 15 times earnings, a fraction of the multiple enjoyed by internet stocks. It deserves a rerating. Those who think the company is boring confuse its output pointyheaded specialist publications with its business, which is growing.
Lord Black vies with Tyco boss for greed Oscar 1 Sep 2004 Denis Kozlowski and his $15,000 umbrella stand still have an edge, but Hollinger's report into Black's expenditure looks pretty awful. Given the amounts of money involved, Black and his fellow directors deserve to face a Tycostyle grilling in the courts. Dennis Kozlowski and his $15,000 umbrella stand still have an edge, but Hollinger's report into Black's expenditure looks pretty awful.
Reed Elsevier bulks up in risk management 14 Jul 2004 Buying Seisint for $775m cements Reed s position in a fast growing, high margin information market segment. But the AngloDutch publisher has paid a premium price and may struggle to make the deal accretive in the first year.
RWE puts Heidelberger stake up for sale 5 May 2004 The utility is attempting to flog fully half the printing machinery maker's capital in as little as two days. But can the bookrunning banks achieve that without the share price tanking?
Google kicks off $2.7bn auction IPO 30 Apr 2004 The first lines of the prospectus say it all: Google is not a conventional company. True to form, neither are its plans for an auction. But before Google can revolutionise Wall Street, it has some high hurdles to jump to prove this is a more effective way to price equity.
Martha Stewart raises white collar bar 7 Mar 2004 The US home improvement icon's conviction Friday on 4 counts shocked many who found her crimes relatively petty compared to Enron et al. This fails to grasp the public s hunger to find culprits for corporate greed of any kind and bodes poorly for those next on the docket.
What’s up with the Financial Times? 1 Mar 2004 Losses at the paper have deepened and Pearson isn't counting on a return to profit this year. Other divisions will have a tricky 2004 too. The good news is that 2005 looks a lot better. But there isn't much case for piling into the stock yet.
Lagardere may be forced to sell bulk of Editis 4 Dec 2003 At least Lagardere bought the business from Vivendi for a song last year. Now it looks like it needed to. The French conglomerate was expected to sell a big slab of the publishing unit. But the proposed deal with Brussels is worse than expected.
Pearson still in the doldrums 28 Jul 2003 The publishing group says the decline in its firsthalf profit reflects a strongerthanusual seasonality and expects a strong second half. But there is no easy growth here: Pearson is mainly relying on cost cuts and competitive wins to outperform flat markets.
Apax and Hicks, Muse seek Yell exit 1 Jul 2003 The directories business is racing to float over half the company at a midrange valuation of about 9 times this year's earnings. Its private equity shareholders are set for a super exit that may help them in their own fundraising efforts.
Wolters Kluwer suffers for disappointing 11 Mar 2003 The publisher has delivered some modest incremental bad news that clarifies its preliminary results statement. Disappointed investors have reacted with all the coolness of a toddler.
Pearson tells a recovery story 3 Mar 2003 Gloomy investors have switched focus from the publisher's ailing FT newspapers to a decline in its much larger school business. But what about its stronger businesses, its dramatic deleveraging, and its generous dividend? Is it time to get positive about Pearson yet?
The price Lagardere is paying for Vivendi Universal’s French publishing assets looks like a bargain. 24 Oct 2002