Editor's Picks
Aviva motoring
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Insurance giant Aviva highlighted the performance of its UK general insurance sales, which topped the billion pounds mark, as it made a solid start to the year.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Banks, IMF, BP
Tuesday 17 May 2011
The City will miss out on £1bn of fees if the Government goes ahead with an unusual method of bank privatisation recommended yesterday by Lord Saatchi and other influential Conservatives. The Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, chaired by the Tory peer, has urged the coalition to shun a normal sale of its shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group and instead give them to every
Capital Shopping reports higher footfall
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Shopping centres remain busy despite economic worries, though 2011 is expected to be difficult year for customers, Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) has said.
Derwent London to raise £175m
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Derwent London, which rents out offices in London, said it will raise a £175m convertible bond to fund future plans as the office market in the capital continues to perform strongly.
Smartphone effect boosts Vodafone
Tuesday 17 May 2011
Strong growth in emerging markets and the increasing popularity of smartphones helped the mobile telecommunications giant Vodafone post higher revenues and profits in the year to 31 March. Adjusted pre-tax profits rose to £11bn from £10.6bn on revenues that were up to £45.9bn from £44.5bn. The market had been expecting profit before tax of £11.78bn on turnover of £45.47bn.
Nasdaq and ICE drop NYSE bid
Monday 16 May 2011
Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) have dropped their $11.3bn bid for NYSE Euronext after being told the deal would not get the go-ahead from regulators. The US Department of Justice began looking into the proposed tie-up in April, concluding it would not support a deal which would have given Nasdaq almost complete control of listings in the US.
US newspaper round-up: Strauss-Kahn, Pensions, DuPont...
Monday 16 May 2011
The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, on attempted rape charges complicates European debt bailout negotiations and raises questions about who will eventually get the top job at the fund.
Soco has big hopes for Vietnam
Monday 16 May 2011
International oil and gas company, Soco, said its TGT oil field in Vietnam will transform the cash resources of the company when it comes onstream in a few months.
Aon signs up for LandSecs' Leadenhall Building
Monday 16 May 2011
US reinsurance giant Aon is set to occupy a large chunk of The Leadenhall Building in the heart of London's insurance district, and make the bottom 10 floors of the building's office section its new UK headquarters.
Monday newspaper round-up: House prices, M&A slowdown, Strauss-Kahn
Monday 16 May 2011
A lack of new properties on the market has pushed the average house price in England and Wales up to its highest level in nearly three years. The property website Rightmove said that prices rose by 1.3% over the past month to deliver an average of £238,874 — the highest level since June 2008. Prices are 0.7% higher than they were this time last year, according to the Times.
Cranswick brings home the bacon
Monday 16 May 2011
Pork sausages maker Cranswick enjoyed a record year of sales and profitability, despite sales growth petering out in the first quarter of 2011.
Wood Group buy back set at 605p - 625p
Monday 16 May 2011
Oilfield services group Wood Group is to return £1.05bn to shareholders by way of a tender offer to repurchase up to 173.6m Wood shares, equivalent to 32.1% of the issued ordinary share capital of the group. The strike price range represents a discount of 6.1% to 3.0% to the closing price of Wood shares on 13 May, the last trading day before the announcement of the tender offer.
Outsourcers play 'get out of jail' card
Saturday 14 May 2011
Eyebrows were raised when outsourcing giant Capita issued a bullish interim management statement on 10th May, taking by surprise those who thought that a blanket of gloom had descended on the sector since cost cutting enthusiast George Osborne became chancellor of the exchequer.
Shareholders balk at Ladbrokes pay proposals
Saturday 14 May 2011
Ladbrokes became the latest FTSE 250 company to see a substantial number of its shareholders reject pay rises for directors Friday, the day after its fellow bookmaker William Hill suffered a similar fate. More than 33% of shareholder votes went against Ladbrokes remuneration report at the annual meeting.
Petrofac confident as order intake grows
Friday 13 May 2011
Oil services group Petrofac says it is “increasingly confident” that it will deliver profit growth in line with previous guidance after a strong performance so far this year. Major awards in Algeria, Iraq and Malaysia have helped bring the order intake in the year to date to $2bn (£1.2bn). A backlog of $12.3bn at the end of April “continues to give outstanding revenue visibility”.
Sunday tips round-up: Petrofac, BAE Systems, Man, Russia
Friday 13 May 2011
Oilfield services provider Petrofac has, in the year to date, won orders worth $2bn (£1.2bn) in places such as Algeria, Iraq and Malaysia. This has increased the backlog to a very solid $12.3bn, compared with a backlog of $11.7bn at the same point last year, says the Questor team at The Sunday Telegraph. Furthermore, and in their opinion, “This provides good visibility of revenues, as it is
T. Clarke still optimistic
Friday 13 May 2011
Building services group T. Clarke said prospects for the group remain encouraging despite uncertainty and intense competition in the construction sector.
Catlin further reduces London focus
Friday 13 May 2011
Bermuda based insurance underwriter Catlin said rates for certain classes of business are starting to rise after a first quarter that saw an unprecedented number of significant natural disasters.
Operating profit up 10.9% at Dignity
Friday 13 May 2011
Full year expectations remain unchanged at Dignity, the UK's only listed funeral care provider, after the group saw underlying operating profit increase by more than 10% in the first quarter.
Friday newspaper round-up: HMV, British Airways v Unite, Facebook v Google
Friday 13 May 2011
HMV's efforts to sell its Waterstone's book business are being stymied by a stand-off between the beleaguered entertainment group's banks and the potential buyer, Alexander Mamut, over price. The Russian billionaire is thought to have offered between £35m and £45m to acquire the 297-store bookseller but HMV's banks want as much as £70m for the chain, reports the Independent.
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