CenturyTel and Qwest to merge April 22, 2010 CENTURYTEL said yesterday it will buy Qwest Communications in a $10.6bn stock deal, combining the third and the fourth biggest US landline phone companies to help them compete more aggressively and cut costs. CenturyTel offered a 15 per cent premium to Qwest’s market price, and expects the acquisition to add to free cash flow right [...]
Ryanair chief in U-turn over ash payments April 22, 2010 RYANAIR yesterday backtracked on a controversial statement by chief executive Michael O’Leary which said the Irish budget airline would not reimburse stranded passengers for hotel expenses. Instead the budget airline boss said Ryanair would comply with European Union regulations and award compensation to passengers stranded by the volcanic ash cloud. A statement from the airline [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHO SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR COMPENSATION OF FLIGHTS? April 22, 2010 ANDREW STEPAN | TPP RECRUITMENT “I don’t think you can blame the government for a volcano erupting. Airlines shouldn’t be held accountable either. If you buy a ticket for a flight, you should buy travel insurance.” CHRIS BRAVERY | CMA SHIPS “The government should be held accountable. They waited until the Monday morning to do [...]
Carlyle to invest in aviation April 22, 2010 US private equity firm Carlyle Group intends to invest $600m in a joint venture with RPK Capital Management that will buy commercial aviation assets around the world. Carlyle and Chicago based RPK Capital, which specialises in aviation investments, have set up a new company that will purchase over $1bn of assets. RPK, which will manage [...]
US Airways ends United talks April 22, 2010 US Airways called off merger discussions with rivals United Airlines’ parent company UAL yesterday. The latest talks marked the second round of merger discussions in as many years but in a statement issued by US Airways the group said: “After an extensive review and careful consideration, our board of directors has decided to discontinue those [...]
Arriva agrees to a £1.6bn German offer April 22, 2010 ARRIVA’S board agreed to be taken over by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn for £1.6bn yesterday. The UK rail and bus firm recommended a cash offer from Germany’s national rail operator, which will see Arriva shareholders receive 775p for every share they hold. “This offer fully reflects the value of the business we have built [...]
Eurotunnel profits rise as passenger and vehicle numbers continue to grow April 22, 2010 EUROTUNNEL, the group that operates the channel tunnel, saw quarterly revenue jump 10 per cent during the first quarter of the year boosted by a rise in train traffic. The firm said income had climbed to €130.1m (£112.7m), a rise on the same period last year. It added it had recently benefitted from a surge [...]
Punch pays price for pub bailout plans April 22, 2010 BRITAIN’S biggest pubs firm Punch Taverns yesterday reported a 20 per cent drop in first-half pre-tax profit and said it was paying £2m a month to bail out struggling tenants. The company, which has over 7,100 pubs, said pre-tax profit fell to £66m in the 28 weeks to 6 March compared with £82m the year [...]
Sports Direct keeps its eye on the ball with strong sales April 22, 2010 SPORTS Direct Britain’s biggest sporting goods retailer, is on track to meet its full-year earnings forecast after strong trading over the Easter holidays, it said yesterday. The group, controlled by Newcastle United soccer club boss Mike Ashley, said sales rose 2.9 per cent to £214m in the nine weeks ended 28 March, with gross profits [...]
Nestle predicts strong year after its first quarter results impress April 22, 2010 NESTLE beat analysts’ forecasts with a 6.5 per cent jump in underlying first-quarter sales yesterday and said it was confident about the rest of the year. The world’s biggest food group, which makes Nescafé coffee, and KitKat chocolate, saw growth from all its regions and categories in the first three months of 2010. The Swiss [...]