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Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner, says an improvement in general economic conditions and the availability of credit is responsible for some of the projected growth
Adds Gordon, ‘Pent-up demand for new technologies will be released as enterprises focus on new growth opportunities and increase spending plans.’
Emerging markets are leading expansion in the sector, with spending expected to increase 9.3 per cent in Latin America, 7.7 per cent in the Middle East and Africa, and 7 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region.
However, Gordon warns that a portion of this projected increase is due to the decline in the value of the US dollar, in which the spending forecast is denominated.
BlackRock Group remains the biggest investor in AIM thanks to the 2006 merger between fund management giants BlackRock and Merril Lynch Investment Managers. The firm has stakes in 107 AIM-quoted companies, worth £772 million.
Invesco follows with 69 investments worth £675 million, while Prudential Group has interests in 39 AIM companies valued at £432 million.
Following Lloyds Banking Group’s takeover of HBOS earlier this year, the organisation has become the fourth biggest investor in AIM, with 82 investments worth £427 million.
The share of AIM held by institutions peaked at 56.7 per cent in 2006, at which point the junior market’s total value was £75.6 billion, compared to £48.1 billion
Some 52 per cent of the 1,204 private high net worth investors surveyed intend to increase their equity allocation, compared to 33 per cent a year ago. Confidence has not been as high since February 2006, according to the AIC.
The general public, while still broadly pessimistic about shares, have become marginally less gloomy over the past year. Some 19 per cent of the 2,010 UK adults polled think equities will outperform the housing market over the next 12 months, the highest figure since the AIC began conducting its research in 2004.
Among active investors, blue chip stocks remain the most popular sector, finding favour with 20 per cent of respondents compared with 17 per cent opting for smaller companies and the same percentage for resources and commodities. Commercial property trails on 5 per cent.
Active investors still prefer to put most of their money in their home country, with 67 per cent of those polled saying they are investing mainly in the UK at the moment. Emerging markets are favoured by 11 per cent, up from 5 per cent
More than half of all investments in other UK regions since 2001 have involved publicly financed VC funds, finds the research from the University of Strathclyde and government enterprise support body NESTA.
In 2008 the share of early-stage investments relying on government-backed funds rose to between 80 and 90 per cent.
The authors of the report say the trend is due to a decline in private VC funds following the dotcom crash, as well as the rise of government initiatives aiming to plug the gap.
They claim the findings are worrying because ‘although government-backed VC schemes have had a positive effect on company performance and job creation, this effect has been significantly less than the effects that purely private venture capital would be expected to bring.’
However, withdrawing public money for regional VC funds would only widen the regional divide between the South East of England and the rest of the UK, the report concludes.
Compared to the same period of last year, the decline was more than a third, dashing hopes that the market was heading for a smooth recovery.
The volume of deals in which EU or Switzerland-based companies were targeted also fell by 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 16 per cent compared to the first three months of 2009.
However, private equity transactions targeting companies in the region more than doubled year-on-year to €12 billion.
The Middle East was the region to see the biggest upturn in deals, with a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent in the number of transactions targeting the region and total deal value climbing 15 per cent.
EMCOR Group (UK), a subsidiary of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME), a Fortune 500 leader in mechanical and electrical construction, energy infrastructure and facilities services for a diverse range of businesses, with estimated 2010 revenues of $5.0 billion, employing 25,000 people, last month became one of the first five companies to receive a new BSI certification–PAS 11000–recognising its leading role in partnering and alliance management.
Industry insiders say that investors are divided over whether to back an audacious attempt by Guy Hands, boss of EMI's owner Terra Firma, to drum up financing to plug a £120m shortfall against loan covenants agreed with primary lender Citigroup by mid-June.
Hands is asking for an additional £240m to tide EMI over for a further five years even though the company lost £1.8bn last year. It owes Citigroup £3.2bn after the highly leveraged buyout of the music company by Hands in 2007. He paid £4.5bn in total.
A music analyst said: "Investors are being asked to make a leap of faith as they have already written down the value of their EMI holding to virtually zero." If Hands fails to raise cash, he risks one of his most high-profile investments being seized by Citigroup.
But sources say Terra Firma, a private equity house, has lined up outside interests to furnish extra equity if investors – mostly US and Canadian pension funds – baulk at the idea.
However, EMI has run up against a bearish report for the industry from PricewaterhouseCoopers. It says: "The recorded music market will contract at a 4.4% compound annual rate to $7.2bn in 2013 from $9bn in 2008."
Hands hopes that investors will be encouraged by a new business plan by Charles Allen, executive chairman of EMI's recorded music division. Allen is looking at the possibility of asset sales, with some analysts speculating it could offload its Japanese business for £200m, or sell parts of its back catalogue of jazz and classical music.
Allen is also looking at a deal that could see Warner Music brought in to distribute EMI music in the US. Warner would pay an upfront payment of between £150m and £200m.
EMI was dealt another blow last week when Sir Paul McCartney quit the label, giving the publishing rights to all his solo and Wings hits to the Concord Music group. McCartney complained that he was treated like "part of the furniture".
With the state discussing tuition increases as high as 6 percent and Angie Martin, vice president of financial operations and treasurer, quoted in an April 22 Kernel article as saying that faculty and staff must endure third straight year with no raises, one has to wonder when something will give?
Sure, the circumstances are not ideal. The state is offering little to no help and the recession has strained the university’s bank accounts and endowments. But just because the going is tough doesn’t mean the most important people on this campus should take the brunt of the blow.
In an interview with the Kernel last semester, UK President Lee Todd considered one of his main goals to have at least a 1 percent raise for faculty and staff. Todd did note the challenge of such a raise, but he still seemed committed to the idea.
IT expend to grow (Apr 28, 2010)
Corporations and consumers will spend $3.4 trillion (£2.1 trillion) on computing hardware, software, IT services and telecoms in 2010, with all those market segments expected to grow.Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner, says an improvement in general economic conditions and the availability of credit is responsible for some of the projected growth
Adds Gordon, ‘Pent-up demand for new technologies will be released as enterprises focus on new growth opportunities and increase spending plans.’
Emerging markets are leading expansion in the sector, with spending expected to increase 9.3 per cent in Latin America, 7.7 per cent in the Middle East and Africa, and 7 per cent in the Asia-Pacific region.
However, Gordon warns that a portion of this projected increase is due to the decline in the value of the US dollar, in which the spending forecast is denominated.
Institutions grip on to AIM risks (Apr 28, 2010)
although the significance of institutional investments in AIM has fallen from £39 billion last year to £24.1 billion this year, those investments now represent a 50.2 per cent share of the market, compared to 50.0 per last year and 46.4 per cent in 2007, according to the report from small-cap specialist Growth Company Investor.BlackRock Group remains the biggest investor in AIM thanks to the 2006 merger between fund management giants BlackRock and Merril Lynch Investment Managers. The firm has stakes in 107 AIM-quoted companies, worth £772 million.
Invesco follows with 69 investments worth £675 million, while Prudential Group has interests in 39 AIM companies valued at £432 million.
Following Lloyds Banking Group’s takeover of HBOS earlier this year, the organisation has become the fourth biggest investor in AIM, with 82 investments worth £427 million.
The share of AIM held by institutions peaked at 56.7 per cent in 2006, at which point the junior market’s total value was £75.6 billion, compared to £48.1 billion
Investor assurance gets better (Apr 28, 2010)
A majority of active investors plan to increase their exposure to the stock market over the coming months, according to research from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).Some 52 per cent of the 1,204 private high net worth investors surveyed intend to increase their equity allocation, compared to 33 per cent a year ago. Confidence has not been as high since February 2006, according to the AIC.
The general public, while still broadly pessimistic about shares, have become marginally less gloomy over the past year. Some 19 per cent of the 2,010 UK adults polled think equities will outperform the housing market over the next 12 months, the highest figure since the AIC began conducting its research in 2004.
Among active investors, blue chip stocks remain the most popular sector, finding favour with 20 per cent of respondents compared with 17 per cent opting for smaller companies and the same percentage for resources and commodities. Commercial property trails on 5 per cent.
Active investors still prefer to put most of their money in their home country, with 67 per cent of those polled saying they are investing mainly in the UK at the moment. Emerging markets are favoured by 11 per cent, up from 5 per cent
Government supporting up local business enterprise assets (Apr 28, 2010)
Venture capital investing outside London and the South East depends heavily on public sector funds, according to a study.More than half of all investments in other UK regions since 2001 have involved publicly financed VC funds, finds the research from the University of Strathclyde and government enterprise support body NESTA.
In 2008 the share of early-stage investments relying on government-backed funds rose to between 80 and 90 per cent.
The authors of the report say the trend is due to a decline in private VC funds following the dotcom crash, as well as the rise of government initiatives aiming to plug the gap.
They claim the findings are worrying because ‘although government-backed VC schemes have had a positive effect on company performance and job creation, this effect has been significantly less than the effects that purely private venture capital would be expected to bring.’
However, withdrawing public money for regional VC funds would only widen the regional divide between the South East of England and the rest of the UK, the report concludes.
Surprise M&A dip in first quarter (Apr 28, 2010)
The European mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market declined 13 per cent to €157 billion in the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, according to information provider waft.Compared to the same period of last year, the decline was more than a third, dashing hopes that the market was heading for a smooth recovery.
The volume of deals in which EU or Switzerland-based companies were targeted also fell by 20 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 16 per cent compared to the first three months of 2009.
However, private equity transactions targeting companies in the region more than doubled year-on-year to €12 billion.
The Middle East was the region to see the biggest upturn in deals, with a year-on-year increase of 40 per cent in the number of transactions targeting the region and total deal value climbing 15 per cent.
MCOR Group (UK) Leads Industry with Partnering and Alliance Management Standard (Apr 27, 2010)
At the ‘Successful Partnership in FM’ conference, held at Wembley Stadium, London, 23rd April 2010, EMCOR Group (UK) plc will be discussing the benefits of adopting the policies and principles of partnering and alliance management. EMCOR Group (UK) will be presenting ‘A Practical Example of PAS 11000 in FM’ at the Conference.EMCOR Group (UK), a subsidiary of EMCOR Group, Inc. (NYSE:EME), a Fortune 500 leader in mechanical and electrical construction, energy infrastructure and facilities services for a diverse range of businesses, with estimated 2010 revenues of $5.0 billion, employing 25,000 people, last month became one of the first five companies to receive a new BSI certification–PAS 11000–recognising its leading role in partnering and alliance management.
Hands seeks £360m to keep EMI on track (Apr 27, 2010)
EMI is struggling to persuade its investors to stump up £360m to secure its future until 2015 amid scepticism about what the future holds for the music industry, which has been hit hard by illegal downloading and a collapse in CD sales.Industry insiders say that investors are divided over whether to back an audacious attempt by Guy Hands, boss of EMI's owner Terra Firma, to drum up financing to plug a £120m shortfall against loan covenants agreed with primary lender Citigroup by mid-June.
Hands is asking for an additional £240m to tide EMI over for a further five years even though the company lost £1.8bn last year. It owes Citigroup £3.2bn after the highly leveraged buyout of the music company by Hands in 2007. He paid £4.5bn in total.
A music analyst said: "Investors are being asked to make a leap of faith as they have already written down the value of their EMI holding to virtually zero." If Hands fails to raise cash, he risks one of his most high-profile investments being seized by Citigroup.
But sources say Terra Firma, a private equity house, has lined up outside interests to furnish extra equity if investors – mostly US and Canadian pension funds – baulk at the idea.
However, EMI has run up against a bearish report for the industry from PricewaterhouseCoopers. It says: "The recorded music market will contract at a 4.4% compound annual rate to $7.2bn in 2013 from $9bn in 2008."
Hands hopes that investors will be encouraged by a new business plan by Charles Allen, executive chairman of EMI's recorded music division. Allen is looking at the possibility of asset sales, with some analysts speculating it could offload its Japanese business for £200m, or sell parts of its back catalogue of jazz and classical music.
Allen is also looking at a deal that could see Warner Music brought in to distribute EMI music in the US. Warner would pay an upfront payment of between £150m and £200m.
EMI was dealt another blow last week when Sir Paul McCartney quit the label, giving the publishing rights to all his solo and Wings hits to the Concord Music group. McCartney complained that he was treated like "part of the furniture".
The never-ending story: tuition tramps (Apr 27, 2010)
Thanks to a state legislature that can no longer pass a budget on time much less a budget favorable to education (which much be the reason why the changed the state slogan from “Where Education Pays”) also in part less money overall due to the recession, the students, faculty and staff who make up the university, are set to potentially suffer once again.With the state discussing tuition increases as high as 6 percent and Angie Martin, vice president of financial operations and treasurer, quoted in an April 22 Kernel article as saying that faculty and staff must endure third straight year with no raises, one has to wonder when something will give?
Sure, the circumstances are not ideal. The state is offering little to no help and the recession has strained the university’s bank accounts and endowments. But just because the going is tough doesn’t mean the most important people on this campus should take the brunt of the blow.
In an interview with the Kernel last semester, UK President Lee Todd considered one of his main goals to have at least a 1 percent raise for faculty and staff. Todd did note the challenge of such a raise, but he still seemed committed to the idea.
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