Smiths plunges as strong pound hammers profit March 19, 2014 SMITHS Group fell 50p or nearly four per cent per cent yesterday after a weak performance from its medical unit and a strong pound negatively impacted on first-half profits. The FTSE 100-quoted firm, which makes mechanical seals, bomb detectors and medical devices, reported a four per cent decline in pre-tax profit to £215m, while revenue [...]
Bottom Line: Time is running out for turnaround plan March 19, 2014 SMITHS Group is on borrowed time. The only industrial conglomerate left in the FTSE 100, its shares have been buoyed by ongoing hopes that the five-division firm, whose diverse interests range from medical devices to engineering, would be broken up and sold off. The example of similarly diversified firm Invensys, which sold off its rail [...]
Care specialist Cambian set to float in London March 19, 2014 CARE homes and specialist schools operator Cambian is to join the London stock market in a float that is believed to value the firm at north of £500m. Cambian announced its initial public offering yesterday, after a rise in outsourcing from local authorities and the NHS has given the firm a major chance to expand [...]
Unite Islington scheme gets nod March 19, 2014 Unite has won planning permission to build a new £93m student housing block in Islington, the group confirmed yesterday. Unite bought the 260,000 square feet scheme on Holloway Road from London Metropolitan University last year. It plans to develop the site in joint venture with Singapore’s investment fund GIC and build a mixture of shared [...]
Doughty Hanson sells stake March 19, 2014 Doughty Hanson, the private equity group, was last night selling its remaining shareholding in the cable management firm HellermannTyton through a share placing. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs acted as bookrunners and placing agents. The placing is expected to comprise around 47m shares, representing 21.8 per cent of the group. Hellermann Tyton’s shares closed 1.8 [...]
Greece secures next bailout loan March 19, 2014 Greece’s international lenders yesterday confirmed that they had signed off on the latest review of Greece’s rescue package, saying it is on track to meet targets, including a primary surplus of three per cent of national income in 2015. The deal with the European Central Bank, European Commission and International Monetary Fund should unlock Greece’s [...]
Bentley brings engines home as profits soar March 19, 2014 BENTLEY will bring more engine manufacturing to Britain this year, following record-breaking sales and profits in 2013. The luxury car firm, based in Crewe and owned by Volkswagen, said it planned to move production of all W12 cylinder engines from Germany to Britain by the end of the year. Bentley already makes around 5,000 engines [...]
BMW cheers investors with plan to sell more than 2m cars a year March 19, 2014 BMW shares soared 7.3 per cent yesterday after the German car group pledged to expand its production plant in the United States and repeated its confidence in selling more than 2m cars in the coming year. Boss Nobert Reithofer said BMW expects to post “a significant rise in sales volumes” in 2014 with a corresponding rise [...]
Slaughter and May names seven new partners to London office March 19, 2014 MAGIC circle law firm Slaughter and May has promoted seven lawyers to its partnership, it said yesterday. From 1 May dispute resolution specialist Jonathan Clark, competition duo Jordan Ellison and Anna Lyle-Smith, corporate lawyer Susannah Mackney and tax expert Dominic Robertson will become partner. They will be joined by Azadeh Nassiri, a financing lawyer, and [...]
Intertek boss’ pay cut by £2m March 19, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of product testing firm Intertek had his pay packet reduced by around £2m last year, after the FTSE 100 firm said its full-year results did not meet internal targets. Dr Wolfhart Hauser’s bonus was halved to £639,000 in 2013, while performance-linked pay fell from £2.9m to £1.6m. He received a total of [...]