Senior buys US rival for $13.3m August 17, 2010 Manufacturing firm Senior said yesterday it had bought US rival WahlcoMetroflex (WMX) for $13.3m (£8.5m). WMX manufactures exhaust gas systems and other parts for the energy industry. WMX reported sales of $9.7m and profit before interest and tax of $1.1m in the first half of the year. The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings [...]
EnQuest boosts earnings August 17, 2010 North Sea oil explorer EnQuest reported a sharp rise in half-year profits and upped its production quota for the year yesterday after its drilling programme beat expectations. Just four months after the firm was formed from the demerged UK unit of Petrofac and Lundin, it saw pre-tax profits soar to $86.2m (£55.3m) from $2.9m a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 17, 2010 World Gold Council The WGC has appointed David Badham as head of investment marketing for Europe, effective immediately. Badham joins from the Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was head of communications and marketing for the global markets division in the EMEA region. Prior to the acquisition of NatWest by RBS in 2000, he was [...]
Cameron takes stock after 100 days in power August 17, 2010 TONY Blair, who releases his memoirs next month, says his biggest regret was not doing enough during his early years in power. He wasted his first 100 days – and indeed much of his first term – basking in the glory of Labour’s landslide win. By the time he turned his attention to public service [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE THE COALITION’S FIRST 100 DAYS IN POWER? August 17, 2010 DR PATRICK NOLAN | REFORM Its goal of a smaller government and stronger society is right but many of its policies go in exactly the other direction. Governments need to take the tough decisions straight away when their political capital is at its highest. That means looking again at the big spending areas of health [...]
Carlsberg ups target as key markets rise August 17, 2010 CARLSBERG yesterday lifted its target for profits growth after reporting a 30 per cent rise in second-quarter profits and winning a bigger proportion of some of its main markets. The group said it expected net profits to surge an estimated 40 per cent this year – double the 20 per cent previously forecast. Carlsberg, which [...]
High Speed 1 rail bidders joined by new partners August 17, 2010 GOLDMAN Sachs and Groupe Eurotunnel have expanded their bidding group for Britain’s only high-speed rail line as first-round bids were due for the £1.5bn route yesterday. The British government is selling “High Speed 1” which has a 30-year concession to run a 110-kilometre (70 mile) railway linking London and the Channel Tunnel, to help cut [...]
EU criticises WTO ruling on tech tariffs August 17, 2010 A ROW has erupted between the EU and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over technology tariffs. The EU has slammed a World Trade Organisation report that orders it to end duties on electronic products. Brussels is now mulling an appeal against the ruling. The EU’s executive commission claims the WTO panel report fails to lay [...]
Britain’s AAA status more secure says Moody’s August 17, 2010 THE top AAA ratings of the UK, US, France and Germany continue to be well positioned, Moody’s Investors Service has said. The “distance to downgrade” for these four sovereigns has been reduced, the credit rating agency said, adding that large AAA-rated governments face different challenges from those they faced a few months ago. For example, [...]
Potash rejects $39bn BHP Billiton bid August 17, 2010 THE world’s largest fertiliser producer Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan has rejected a $39bn (£24.9bn) takeover approach from mining giant BHP Billiton. Canada-based PotashCorp said BHP offered US$130 a share in cash – equivalent to a 20 per cent premium on the company’s share price on 11 August. However, Canadian Potash dismissed the proposal as “grossly [...]