YouGov boosts UK profits after success of instant polling and general election October 11, 2010 INCREASED appetite for instant polling results and the general election helped YouGov post a 60 per cent hike in annual UK?operating profits, the pollster said yesterday. YouGov reported UK operating profit of £3.4m in the year ending 31 July, on UK revenues that were nine per cent higher at £12.1m. YouGov chief executive Stephan Shakespeare [...]
FFastFill wins contract with Bahrain Exchange October 11, 2010 DERIVATIVES software provider, FFastFill, has signed an agreement with the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) to offer vendor software to the exchange and its users. FFastFill, which supplies Software as a Service (SaaS) to the derivatives community, said that it will provide the BFX with connectivity to its community of banks and brokerage firms. BFX’s clients [...]
Compass finance boss set to join Enterprise Inns October 11, 2010 NEIL Smith, finance director at Compass Group, has been appointed as chief financial officer of Enterprise Inns. He is taking over from David George, who will step down from the post at the end of January after a 20-year stint in the role. He joined the pub group at its inception in 1991. Smith will [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 11, 2010 NOKIA Goldman Sachs issues a “neutral” rating for Nokia as the broker thinks the phone group will continue to trade in-line with near-term earnings momentum, which it believes is turning positive. However, the broker says the long-term risks to Nokia’s smartphone share remain high and warns the stock could prove a “value trap”. PRUDENTIAL JP [...]
Aardman records post tax profit October 11, 2010 City A.M. said yesterday Aardman Holdings, the firm behind Wallace & Gromit, swung from a £1m profit to a £2.5m loss last year. This is a pre-tax figure and Aardman has asked us to clarify that tax credits worth £2.9m pushed the firm back into the black. After other taxation was deducted the firm recorded [...]
Air Partner wins DFID contract October 11, 2010 Air Partner is to become the sole provider of all passenger and freight air charter services for the government’s department for international development (DFID) for the next four years. The new contract, which is effective immediately, will see Air Partner provide logistical support to the DFID’s global aid assignments. It won the contract after a [...]
Newsweek in Beast tie-up talks October 11, 2010 US weekly magazine Newsweek and the Daily Beast news website are exploring possibilities to combine their operations and the likelihood of a deal is increasing, it is understood. A deal would make Daily Beast co-founder and co-owner Tina Brown the editor of Newsweek on top of her existing editorial duties at the website. Sidney Harman [...]
City workers expect higher bonus in 2010 October 11, 2010 CITY workers are approaching the bonus season with more confidence than they were last year thanks to an improvement in the financial services job market, according to two new reports. City recruitment company Morgan McKinley found 88 per cent of City workers expected to receive a bonus, up six per cent from last year, while [...]
Wood Group heralds pick-up October 11, 2010 Oil and gas services contractor John Wood Group yesterday forecasted a pick-up in its engineering business in the second half of the year as oil and gas companies launch more projects. Wood expects higher levels of potential work and recent contract wins, such as the detailed design for Chevron’s Jack and St Malo deepwater facility [...]
Qinetiq sells US security business to ManTech October 11, 2010 DEFENCE firm Qinetiq has completed the sale of its US security and intelligence services (S&IS) business, to ManTech International for $60m (£37.7m). The deal will see the disposal of Qinetiq’s American service, which provides security solutions to the US Department of Defence. ManTech, one of the US government’s leading providers for security technology, has agreed [...]