Editor's Picks
Polly Peck's Nadir flies back to face UK justice
Thursday 26 Aug 2010
Seventeen years after his Polly Peck business empire collapsed, tycoon Asil Nadir has returned to Britain to face charges over a £34m fraud. The 69-year-old, who fled Britain for his native north Cyprus in 1993, touched down at Luton Airport just before 1.30pm today. Nadir stands accused of theft after his company collapsed in spectacular fashion in the early nineties
Savills cautious despite rebound
Thursday 26 Aug 2010
Real estate advisor Savills remains cautious on economic conditions despite seeing a dramatic recovery in profits in the six months to June 30 as markets rebounded in the UK and Asia.
World Cup lifts William Hill profit
Thursday 26 Aug 2010
Betting firm William Hill only posted a small rise in half year profits as gains from the football World Cup were partly offset by poor horseracing results.
Petropavlovsk hit by production shortfall
Thursday 26 Aug 2010
Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk fell into the red in the six months to June 30 after problems at its main mine led to a shortfall in production.
G4S slightly ahead of expectations
Thursday 26 Aug 2010
Sales and underlying profits from security group G4S in the first half of 2010 were slightly ahead of market expectations, despite the trading environment remaining challenging. Group turnover was up 4% at constant exchange rates (CER) to £3,632.2m from £3,493m in the first half of last year. The market had pencilled in a figure of £3.6bn for sales.
Pinewood still not making the grade
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
Film studio Pinewood Shepperton recorded a 12% drop in half year profit but said revenues for 2010 are now expected to exceed market expectations.
BHP Billiton resolute on Potash bid
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
BHP boss Marius Kloppers today defended his £26bn bid for Canadian fertiliser group PotashCorp, saying it would “generate opportunities for this company, be long term accretive for shareholders and falls within our core skill set”. Kloppers also said the $130 a share offer was the only one “on the table” despite reports of an approach to Chinese chemicals group Sinochem as a possible white knight
SIG fears austerity measures
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
SIG, the insulation materials and specialist construction products maker, has confirmed well-flagged interim results, but is worried about how things will develop over the next few months.
Paddy Power a World Cup winner as England slump
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
Adverts featuring blind footballers and an "exceptional" World Cup linked largely to England's dismal showing did the trick for Paddy Power with first half profits up over 50%. The Irish bookie also now expects to beat market forecasts for the year.
Tullow toppled as tax row rumbles on
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
Higher commodity prices gave Tullow Oil a boost in the first half of 2010, propelling profits up almost three times, in line with expectations.
BHP Billiton boosted by record volumes
Wednesday 25 Aug 2010
Record sales volumes of iron ore, metallurgical coal and oil helped mining giant BHP Billiton lift underlying net income by 16% last year. The group, which has launched a £26bn bid for Canadian fertiliser group Potash, posted pre-tax profits of $19.6bn, up from $11.6bn, in the year to June on revenues 5% better at $52.8bn. But BHP thinks the short term outlook for commodities is 'mixed'
Shares fall as US home sales slump
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
Shares fell sharply in London after a bigger than expected fall in US home sales in July stoked more worries over the state of the global economy. Sales of previously owned homes fell to 3.83m in the year to July, a 27% annual decrease and the slowest rate since 1995. Analysts had been expecting a much milder fall of about 13%.
Yen hits 15-year high against dollar
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
The Japanese yen has continued rising against other currencies despite persistent economic worries in the East Asian country as uncertainty over whether the government will intervene continues.
Koreans won't raise Dana offer
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
South Korea's state-run oil company KNOC confirmed press reports that it doesn’t intend to increase its £18 a share cash bid for Dana Petroleum.
US drives WPP recovery
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
A much faster than expected turnaround in the US helped advertising giant WPP lift first half profits by more than a third, with shareholders getting a 15% dividend hike.
Wood Group increasingly confident
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
Wood Group, which provides support services to the oil and gas industry, posted a decline in half yearly profit but said it looks to the second half and 2011 with increasing confidence.
Persimmon restarts dividends
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
Housebuilder Persimmon has restarted dividend payments as first half profits and sales rose sharply, though it says the housing market has slowed in recent weeks.
Cairn strikes in Greenland at first attempt
Tuesday 24 Aug 2010
Cairn Energy has found gas in Greenland at its first go, raising hopes that this could be its new Rajasthan. First hydrocarbons encountered in the Baffin Bay Basin have been found by the T8-1 well, offshore Disko Island. “Although we are at the very start of exploration in the basin the discovery of gas in thin sands is indicative of an active hydrocarbon system,” said Edinburgh-based Cairn
Price dip could threaten housebuilders' profits
Monday 23 Aug 2010
While public spending cuts are bound to hurt businesses that directly depend on the public sector for revenues, it is perhaps worrying for the government when private sector companies fret about the effects of these cuts on the broader economy.
India may wreck Vedanta's Rajasthan buy
Monday 23 Aug 2010
The Indian government may yet derail mining giant Vedanta’s acquisition of Cairn Energy’s interests in Rajasthan, according to reports.
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