Reckitt Benckiser in £2.5bn takeover deal for SSL July 21, 2010 CONSUMER goods group Reckitt Benckiser has agreed to buy Durex condoms and Scholl sandals maker SSL International for £2.5bn ($3.8 billion) to increase its presence in health and personal care. The Anglo-Dutch maker of Nurofen painkillers, Strepsils and Lemsip cold remedies, said SSL shareholders would receive 1,171 pence in cash a share, including the eight [...]
Hedge funds still pulling in billions July 21, 2010 HEDGE funds pulled in $9.5bn (£6.22bn) during the second quarter with nervous investors preferring to send their money to the biggest and best established managers, according to industry tracker Hedge Fund Research Inc. Hedge fund managers have seen flat returns on average as they have battled a volatile market so far this year, but that [...]
BP in deal to sell $7bn of assets July 21, 2010 BP has sealed a deal to sell $7bn (£4.5bn) of assets in the United States, Canada and Egypt to Apache Corporation. The company will sell its Permian Basin operations in Texas and south-east New Mexico and its Western Canadian upstream gas assets. It will also offload its Western Desert business concessions and East Badr El-din [...]
Ocado forced to slash float price July 20, 2010 OCADO caved in to investor pressure yesterday by slashing its IPO valuation by 20 per cent, in a desperate eleventh hour bid to keep the float alive. Ocado’s management were accused of arrogance for failing to listen to analysts and investors who baulked at the initial £1.1bn price-tag attached to the business. The online grocer [...]
Mac sales push Apple profits up July 20, 2010 APPLE stunned investors last night after posting better than expected third quarter results, bolstered by hearty Mac computer sales. For the period ended 26 June, revenue climbed by 61 per cent to $15.7bn (£10.2bn), while net quarterly profit almost doubled on the same period last year and came to $3.25bn. The California based group tied [...]
Crew reject BA pay offer July 20, 2010 BRITISH Airways is facing the prospect of further strikes after cabin crew staff yesterday rejected a new pay offer made by the airline. Just under half of the 11,000 registered members of Unite, the union representing the crew, voted on the pay package with 3,419 standing against the offer, while 1,686 favoured it. BA called [...]
Why Britain needs to save far more July 20, 2010 THERE is no better way to kill a dinner party discussion than to bring up the subject of pensions. Just ask your friends when they expect to retire, and how much they hope to earn when they stop working. The usual answer – apart from the lucky few who still enjoy final salary schemes – [...]
Yahoo profit disappoints July 20, 2010 YAHOO posted nearly flat second quarter revenue yesterday after taking a hit from the fall off in web advertising spend. Yahoo said its revenue in the three months ended 30 June was $1.6bn (£1.05bn), compared with $1.57bn in the same quarter last year disappointing the market which expected it to do better. The company said [...]
Stelios sends easyJet threats July 20, 2010 EasyJet owner Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday threatened to remove the budget airline’s “easy” brand if it didn’t improve its punctuality. In a letter sent to the airline’s lawyers, Herbert Smith, Stelios set a 17 October deadline for easyJet to improve its performance, claiming it was “completely unacceptable and contrary to the brand values upon which [...]
Hypo Real Estate to fail stress test July 20, 2010 Hypo Real Estate (HRE), the German bank nationalised during the financial crisis, is set to become the first bank to fail a European stress test. HRE, which is already being propped up with €100bn (£84bn) of public funds, is likely to need more capital from the German government to pass muster. Europe is testing how [...]