Senior reveals plan to buy UPECA March 10, 2014 Manufacturing group Senior rose 5.5 per cent in early trading after it said it would buy Malaysia’s UPECA Technologies for £75.5m. The FTSE 250-quoted firm said the deal, expected to complete by the end of March, would strengthen its presence in the South East Asian region. Yet shares ended down 0.45 per cent.
Pennon rises on Ofwat approval March 10, 2014 FTSE 250-LISTED Pennon soared three per cent in early trading yesterday, after the regulator Ofwat said that its water company subsidiary South West Water had qualified for enhanced status and a fast-tracked price review. Affinity Water, which supplies water to parts of central England, Essex and Greater London, also qualified, but FTSE 100-listed Severn Trent [...]
Costain wins £150m Crossrail contract to upgrade stations March 10, 2014 BRITISH engineering firm Costain yesterday said it had been awarded a £150m contract to provide infrastructure for suburban Crossrail stations in east London. Costain will deliver major infrastructure improvements, including upgrading the tracks and overhead electrification equipment at stations between Stratford in east London and Shenfield in Essex. The contract starts immediately, with the main [...]
Gatwick offers to chip in £1,000 for council tax at nearby homes March 10, 2014 GATWICK has offered to pay £1,000 a year towards council tax for homes near the airport if it wins permission to build a second runway. The south London airport said up to 4,100 households experience plane noise above 57 decibels, making them eligible for the compensation scheme. Gatwick claims a new runway would affect far [...]
Shipping broker Clarkson lifted by rising tide of seaborne trade March 10, 2014 SHARES in ship broker Clarkson were buoyed yesterday by the rise in trading activity on the seas. Revenues at Clarkson rose 12 per cent last year to £198m, while profits excluding one-off costs rose 26 per cent to £25.1m, beating forecasts. While the FTSE-listed firm said rates for ships often were below operating costs at [...]
City Moves for 11 March 2014 | Who’s switching jobs March 10, 2014 Salamanca Group The merchant banking and operational risk management business has hired Catherine Grum as group head of family office services. She was most recently at Barclays Wealth and Investment Management, where she was head of wealth advisory for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Keystone Law The law firm has made two appointments. Jason [...]
Best of the Brokers for 11 March 2014 March 10, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOODS UBS hails the retail and sugar group as a “buy” and raises its target from 2,890p to 3,300p. The broker thinks Primark is still at an early stage of its growth trajectory and believes the fashion business alone is worth [...]
London Report: Weak China figures prompt FTSE to fall to three-week low March 10, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index fell to its lowest closing level since mid-February yesterday, dragged down by major mining stocks and telecoms group Vodafone. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down by 0.4 per cent, or 23.22 points, at 6,689.45 points – marking its lowest closing level since it ended at 6,663.62 points on 14 February. [...]
New York Report: US stocks dip on China data March 10, 2014 US STOCKS dipped yesterday, weighed down by soft data out of China and Boeing’s latest production setback. Merger and acquisition announcements, however, as well as company-specific news including on Facebook and Alexion Pharma, helped keep the S&P 500 and Nasdaq from bigger losses. China’s exports tumbled 18.1 per cent in February, against expectations for a [...]
UK pension funds’ £400bn gamble March 10, 2014 We’ve written here before about how UK pension funds are woefully failing in their duty to hedge investment risks, and today fresh analysis sheds new light on the problem. Aon Hewitt, one of the country’s top pension fund advisers, has issued a stark warning that UK schemes lack protection against long term interest rate rises worth [...]