China takes control of production for London’s black cabs March 17, 2010 LONDON black cab production is to transfer to China – moving away from Britain for the first time. Bodies and chassis for the latest TX4 model will only be assembled at manufacturer Manganese Bronze’s Coventry plant after being imported from China. Sixty jobs at the plant will be lost as a result of the switch [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU EXPECT THE CHINESE BOOM TO CONTINUE? March 17, 2010 MIKE MOLONEY | TRADING CENTRAL “China is going to be the next superpower. In the 1900s, it was England and then it was followed by New York. Now, it’s China’s turn. They have the market and a huge population for the boom to continue.” CHARLES HOBB | ROYAL BANK OF CANADA “The Chinese economy is [...]
Profits back in fashion for Zara owner March 17, 2010 THE owner of the Zara fashion chain yesterday reported a five per cent rise in profits, fuelled by hundreds of store openings last year. Inditex’s net profit hit £1.17bn in the year to 31 January. The company opened 343 new stores last year which helped to drive sales. The Spanish firm – which sees 70 [...]
GM bullish but no plans to IPO March 17, 2010 GENERAL Motors has a “reasonable chance” to make a profit in 2010. It could sell shares by late this year though it insists it has no timetable for an initial public offering (IPO) that would reduce the American government’s majority stake in the carmaker, chief financial officer Chris Liddell said yesterday. Liddell, speaking to reporters [...]
BMW expects a big rise in its earnings this year March 17, 2010 BMW, the world’s biggest premium carmaker by sales, expects a significant rise in pre-tax profit this year, helped by demand for new models like its 5 Series sedan and better results in all three businesses. “We want to see visible progress in 2010 towards achieving our profitability targets for 2012,” chief executive Norbert Reithofer said [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 17, 2010 ASTRAZENECA Panmure reiterates its “buy” stance on AstraZeneca saying the company’s emerging markets review was comprehensive and makes Panmure more comfortable in its investment thesis. It highlights the key guidance as AstraZeneca’s assertion that it would attain some 25 per cent of its revenues from emerging markets by 2014. This calculation alone justifies a “buy” rating [...]
Northgate to focus on cost cuts March 17, 2010 Van hire group Northgate will continue to focus on cost reductions due to tough ongoing economic conditions and said its forecast for full-year profit remained unchanged. Northgate, which rents out light commercial vehicles in Britain, Ireland and Spain, yesterday said hire revenue per rented vehicle improved in the UK. In Spain, underlying hire revenue per [...]
BPC sees its losses narrow March 17, 2010 BPC, an oil and gas firm with offshore licence permits in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, yesterday reported a narrower net loss in its fiscal 2009, helped by lower expenses. Fiscal 2009 loss narrowed to $2.425m (£1.582m) from $3.561m a year ago. Loss per share for the latest year were 0.31 cents, narrower than 0.49 [...]
Chemring sees trading rise March 17, 2010 Military-goods maker Chemring said yesterday trade in the first four months of its fiscal year was five per cent up on the same period a year ago, despite deliveries being hit by extreme winter weather. Chemring, whose countermeasures products help fighter planes avoid missile attacks, said adverse weather conditions in the first few weeks of [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 17, 2010 CB Richard Ellis Jonathan De Mello is to join the property group as head of its retail consultancy team, effective from April. De Mello is one of the most respected analysts in the retail sector and joins from the Experian Property Consultancy. His consultancy clients have included the likes of Blackstone Private Equity, Henderson Global [...]