Lucrative work for firms that can run a tight ship
ASTON Martin’s flotation price may be a distant memory, but the troubled stock has been on the up since Formula 1 tycoon Lawrence Stroll took control last year, and hopes are high for its first sports utility vehicle.
Mercedes even upped its stake in the luxury carmaker – in what amounts to a major show of confidence in the marque.
But not everyone appears convinced. Hedge fund Sculptor Capital is betting against the shares.
Sculptor Capital is the brainchild of larger-than-life New York hedge fund manager Daniel Och, who also built Och-Ziff into an industry titan.
There may be bumps on the road to recovery yet for Aston Martin.
A BATTLE is brewing on the South Coast over lucrative contracts to run Portsmouth naval base for the Royal Navy.
Industry chatter has it that the Ministry of Defence is gearing up to award the tenders – worth about £1billion – in the next few months. However, the delayed Integrated Review of security, defence, development and foreign policy could hamper matters.
BAE Systems has had the gig for more than six years and sources claim it is odds on to keep control of the core business of maintaining warships.
But the future of other work – from managing tug boats to cleaning and catering – is less clear.
Several other bidders have sized up the job, but have been unable to make the numbers stack up.
Those still in the running include outsourcer Mitie which wants to expand its lucrative defence work after taking over Interserve’s facilities management business last year.
For the MoD, it’s a question of what shall we do with the sailors’ cleaners...
BRANDS are often encouraged to spend their way out of recession, and investors in advertising stocks will be hoping that happens this year.
Ad execs recently gathered (virtually) at a Pimento networking event for an address by one of its celebrated sons, David Wheldon, former marketing boss of RBS, Barclays, Vodafone and Coca-Cola.
He reckons Boris and co have undone all the work achieved to build ‘Brand Britain’ after the 2012 Olympics, and lamented the State’s Covid ads. He said: ‘Ask someone now what Brand Britain is and they’re just bemused.’
Sounds like Soho’s agencies are already hankering for a big gig when Britain tries to rebuild tourism and boost international trade after the pandemic.
RIO Tinto’s new boss, Jakob Stausholm, presents his debut results this week. He took over after the abrupt exit of Jean-Sebastian Jacques following the uproar over its destruction of an Aboriginal site in Australia.
The miner’s shares are up 40 per cent in the past 12 months, but the pressure is on Stausholm to make a break from its tarnished past and lay out his strategy.