Nokia results show its lack of an iPhone April 22, 2010 NOKIA unveiled worse-than-expected first quarter results yesterday pouring cold water on hopes of a revival at the firm. The world’s biggest mobile manufacturer lacks firepower at the high end of the mobile phone market, with no rival to Apple’s industry-changing iPhone. Apple’s tub-thumping results on Tuesday will have added insult to injury for Nokia, as [...]
Marwyn makes Tarmac offer April 22, 2010 ACQUISITIONS vehicle Marwyn Materials has approached mining giant Anglo American with an offer to buy Tarmac and spin it off in a listing. The miner has wanted to sell off the building materials company for years, but waited for the economic recovery to get a good price. “As we have said, we will divest of [...]
Balfour Beatty subsidiary wins Hong Kong contract April 22, 2010 GAMMON Construction, subsidiary of Balfour Beatty, has won a £35m air cargo terminal contract in Hong Kong. The contractor was awarded the HK$4.2bn (£353m) contract by Cathay Pacific and its joint venture partner Hip Hing Construction. The new terminal, which is approximately 280,000 square metres, is scheduled for completion in 2013. Balfour Beatty chief executive, [...]
Dragon Oil reports production increase and plans 10 per cent growth by 2012 April 22, 2010 DRAGON Oil yesterday reported a nine per cent increase in daily output for the first quarter of this year. The oil and gas explorer increased daily production to 47,654 barrels and said it was “satisfied that there is sufficient capacity in existing marketing routes to satisfy current production”. Dragon said that another three development wells [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS April 22, 2010 PUBLICIS Execution Noble reaffirms its “buy” rating on Publicis after the advertising group reported organic revenue growth of 3.1 per cent for the first quarter, a strong improvement from the 5.4 per cent decline in the last quarter of 2009. It expects modest margin expansion, after adjusting for charges due to the acquisition of Razorfish. [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 22, 2010 Deloitte Timothy Mahapatra has taken up a new role at the business advisory firm as managing director of the corporate finance practice. A member of the firm’s executive, Mahapatra has over 15 years of corporate finance experience and was previously leader of Deloitte’s mergers and acquisitions programme. He succeeds Aidan Birkett, who was appointed as [...]
Ryanair backs down over passengers’ expenses April 22, 2010 RYANAIR has backed down over a decision to limit the expenses paid to stranded passengers. The Irish airline had said that expenses refunds would be limited to the sum travellers had paid for their tickets. That would have meant the company failing to pay for food and accommodation, as required under European regulations. The carrier [...]
UK borrowing hits new record April 22, 2010 GOVERNMENT borrowing hit a record £163.4bn this year, official figures have shown. The figure for the 2009-10 financial year is under the £166.5bn predicted by Chancellor Alistair Darling in April’s Budget. However, It is the biggest annual borrowing figure for a UK government in peacetime, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. A further £23.5bn [...]
WH Smith raises dividend after profits boost April 22, 2010 WH Smith has raised its dividend after a jump in first-half profits. The newspaper, books and stationery retailer reported a pre-tax profit of £62m for the six months to 28 February. It hiked its dividend by 13 per cent to 6.1p. The company which has shops on in stations airports and hospitals as well as [...]
Deutsche Bahn seals £1.59bn deal for Arriva April 22, 2010 UK train and bus operator Arriva has agreed to be taken over by Germany’ rail operator Deutsche Bahn in a £1.59bn deal. Deutsche Bahn runs Germany’s national rail services and the move will create one of the biggest transport groups in Europe. Arriva runs rail and bus services in 12 European countries. Deutsche Bahn’s chief [...]