Editor's Picks
Housebuilders' foundations could be tested
Friday 10 Sep 2010
On the face of it, things are looking a lot rosier in the housebuilding sector going by recent results.
Heathrow does record business in August
Friday 10 Sep 2010
Traffic at BAA’s UK airports fell by 0.6% last month despite Heathrow having its busiest August and second busiest month ever.
Morgan Sindall buys Connaught arm
Friday 10 Sep 2010
Morgan Sindall, the construction group, has snapped up the social housing maintenance operations of beleaguered building group Connaught. The deal will secure the future of about 2,500 workers in that business though prospects for those employed in other parts of the company remain uncertain. In total, Connaught employed around 10,000 people.
New Morrisons boss makes his mark
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
Whatever they may say, Britain’s big four supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda, sell more or less the same things at roughly the same prices.
Interest rates glued to record low
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
There was ever only one outcome at this month’s Bank of England meeting when interest rates were kept at a record low for an 18th month. Monetary Policy Committee members, who also agreed to keep quantitative easing at £200bn, are thought likely to have been almost entirely in agreement. They’d voted 8-1 in favour of maintaining borrowing costs at 0.5% in July.
HMV Q1 sales hurt by World Cup
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
Music and DVD retailer HMV posted a 10.6% decline in first quarter sales as potential customers were distracted by the World Cup.
Premier Farnell Q2 profit more than doubles
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
Electronic and industrial components supplier Premier Farnell said underlying pre-tax profit more than doubled after strong sales, particularly in the US, but remains cautious about the economic backdrop.
ENRC tells First Quantum to back off
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
The spat between Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) and Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals (FQM) over ENRC’s acquisition of a majority interest in Camrose Resources is getting tetchier.
Redrow swings to profit as house prices improve
Thursday 09 Sep 2010
Higher house prices helped home builder Redrow move back into profit in the year to June 30, but the outlook remains uncertain. Legal completions were ahead of expectations at 2,587 in the year to end-June at a better than expected average selling price of £149,300 per unit. Underlying profit before tax was £0.7m, versus a loss of £44.2m the year before.
BP blames others for oil spill, Transocean hits back
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010
BP said responsibility for the explosion an oil well that led to the deaths of 11 people and a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is shared by several companies, provoking an angry response from one of the firms it blames. The oil spill was due to decisions by ‘multiple companies and work teams’, a report released by BP today says.
Connaught going bust
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010
Thousands of jobs are at risk after social housing maintenance group Connaught warned last night that it is in the process of calling in the administrators.
House prices creep higher
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010
A 0.2% increase in house prices last month has hauled the cost of a home back close to levels seen at the end of 2009, according to the latest report.
Dana worth at least 2,270p says board
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010
Dana Petroleum's board has launched a fierce defence of its continued rejection of the 1,800p offer from Korean group KNOC, saying the group is worth at least 2,270p and could be worth 3,053p including all its potential assets.
Vodafone gets £4.3bn for China Mobile stake
Wednesday 08 Sep 2010
Vodafone is selling its 3.2% stake in China Mobile for £4.3bn in cash as part of the mobile phone giant’s strategy of exiting smaller investments. It will return about 70% of the money to shareholders through share buybacks and use the rest to slim down its £33bn debt pile. All Vodafone’s 643m China Mobile shares will be sold by an accelerated bookbuild run by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and UBS
Greene King still has fizz
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Greene King has been boosted by strong trading at its managed pubs, which is good news for the company given that they account for about 70% of the company’s turnover.
Retail sales up but 'nothing to write home about'
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Parents stocking up on school clothes ahead of a return to the classroom gave retail sales a welcome boost in August, although the figures were “nothing to write home about”.
Diamond gets top job at Barclays
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Bob Diamond will take over as Barclays chief executive when John Varley steps down at the end of March next year. One of the City’s highest-paid bankers, Diamond has been running the investment banking arm, Barclays Capital, since 1997. He becomes president and deputy group CEO at the start of next month. The 59-year-old American will earn £1.35m a year plus another £3.4m in bonuses
Sports Direct Q1 sales up 8.8%
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Sports Direct said total sales rose 8.8% in the first quarter despite being left with a pile of unsold England kits after the team left the World Cup earlier than expected.
Second half pick-up for Genus
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Animal genetics company Genus edged up earnings last year despite tough times for farmers and the agricultural sector.
Ashtead zooms past expectations
Tuesday 07 Sep 2010
Equipment rental group Ashtead trumped the market’s profit expectations handsomely in the first quarter of its financial year.
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