Column Eight: Tapping a liquid market
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Your support makes all the difference.Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink,' wrote the poet. The observation had some relevance at securities group James Capel, which faced a drought yesterday. Absence of water led executives and analysts to seek their coffee from outside the building in the City's Bevis Marks. Eventually, an emergency unit from Thames Water arrived to restore matters.
Would this have any effect on how Capel's finest will tip Thames Water's shares? Not a bit of it, opined one Capel expert. 'At the moment we have the shares as a 'strong hold'.' What did that mean? 'Er, it doesn't quite mean a 'buy' but the shares will outperform the market,' my man at Bevis Marks said diplomatically.
Whether the following sounds 'finger lickin' good' depends on the dietary habits of readers of this column. Kentucky Fried Chicken is opening its first restaurant near Athens.
'Great food is part of Greek culture,' a Kentucky Fried man said extravagantly. The restaurant will offer the usual chicken fare plus a salad bar replete with feta cheese and black olives. To wash it all down - Pepsi Cola. Should go well with plate-smashing and Zorba dancing sessions.
Specialist vehicle group Trinity Holdings wins no prizes for secrecy. The pathfinder prospectus for its share listing has, as tradition dictates, no mention of the numbers in the issue statistics summary ahead of the issue next month. Page 24, however, gives the game away. 'The issue will raise approximately pounds 14m net of expenses for the company . . .' The 'more disclosure in the City' movement may be gaining ground.
Two-nation Britain. The press officer of the Woolwich Building Society, extolling the new 7.5 per cent interest rate for borrowers taking out a 'first timer's mortgage' paused to remark tactlessly: 'Why, that's less than I am paying for my staff mortgage.'
In Palo Alto, California, the Electric Power Research Institute has built a prototype microwave clothes dryer. Doubtless, a good idea. But the institute should think of another name. The image of edible underpants, reheated trousers and socks on auto-defrost will surely spring straight to buyers' minds, scuppering any wish to take one home.
From Financial Times 22 September: 'Dan-Air denies link with Virgin'. David James, chairman of the group which owns Dan-Air said 'there are no dialogues in hand beyond such minimal levels . . . .' Yesterday talks were confirmed. All clear?
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