World Cup ad boost for WPP June 29, 2010 THE World Cup has helped spur a massive growth spurt at the world’s biggest advertising firm WPP. The embattled company said it is sticking by growth forecasts of two per cent this year after seeing revenues spike thanks to events such as the football tournament, the Winter Olympics and the US mid-term elections. Chief executive [...]
URS ready to raise its bid for Scott Wilson to trump rival June 29, 2010 US engineering firm URS said it might sweeten its offer for Scott Wilson to trump a rival bid from privately held CH2M Hill, escalating the bidding war for the UK consultancy. San Francisco-based URS said yesterday it was considering raising its offer for Scott Wilson to 245p a share or more, a day after US [...]
OSMOND HIKES PHOENIX STAKE June 29, 2010 HUGH Osmond, the entrepreneur, has spent around £1.4m to raise his stake in the closed life funds bid vehicle Phoenix Group. After buying 212,000 shares at 640p per share, Osmond’s Sun Capital unit now owns more than 19 per cent of Phoenix, with a further 18 per cent held by private equity firm TDR. Phoenix [...]
Serco insists it is on track for strong revenue growth in 2010 June 29, 2010 Serco yesterday said it was on track for strong revenue growth in 2010, predicting its future performance would benefit from client demand for efficiency amid a state spending squeeze in Britain. UK-based Serco, which runs prisons in Australia, air traffic control towers in the US and tugs boats for the Royal Navy, said its strong [...]
Drunk trader gets FSA ban and £72k fine June 29, 2010 CITY watchdog the Financial Servies Authority (FSA) has fined and banned a former PVM Oil Futures broker for manipulating the price of oil last year by the unauthorised purchase of more than 7m barrels while drunk. The FSA said in a statement it had fined Steven Noel Perkins £72,000 and banned him from working in [...]
Trio forced to pay £115m for biggest UK Ponzi fraud June 29, 2010 Britain’s High Court has ordered a trio of illegal deposit takers to pay about £115m to the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the financial market regulator said yesterday. The three – John Anderson, Kenneth Peacock and Kautilya Nandan Pruthi – were found by the High Court in March to have accepted deposits without FSA authorisation, the [...]
Insurers face investigation of with-profit ops June 29, 2010 THE FSA is investigating two insurers over failings in their with-profits operations and has warned several others to make changes or face possible fines, it said yesterday. Some of the firms did not have adequate governance arrangements for their with-profits funds, while others were not doing enough to help customers understand their policies, the watchdog [...]
Carpetright warns over tough market June 29, 2010 CARPETRIGHT yesterday warned of tough market conditions despite recording a 64 per cent increase in profit. The flooring firm – traditionally seen as the first in and then the first out of recession – also said it would be offering discounts to public service workers in a bid to drum up business. Carpetright made an [...]
ANALYST VIEWS:?DO CARPETRIGHT’S FIGURES SPELL A RECOVERY? June 29, 2010 KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The results provide few if any surprises. Profits have recovered in line with the economic rebound in the UK, while currency movements have provided the group’s overseas operations with a favourable tailwind. Furthermore, the group’s move to supply the insurance industry has contributed, albeit in a small fashion. PETER SMEDLEY [...]
Jacques Vert restores dividend as profit rises June 29, 2010 FASHION retailer Jacques Vert swung to a full-year pre-tax profit on higher margins and has resumed paying dividends, sending its shares up 33 per cent yesterday. The company, whose brands include Jacques Vert, Windsmoor, Planet and Precis Petite, said its retail sales for the first nine weeks of the new financial year rose 3.9 per [...]