UBS sells BPO unit to Cognizant October 15, 2009 Swiss bank UBS has sold its Indian IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) unit India Service Centre Private to Cognizant for $75m (£46m). The sale echoes a similar move by Citigroup, which sold its Indian BPO operation to Tata and its IT services subsidiary to Wipro earlier this year. The transaction is expected to [...]
DSB gets 24 hours to find a buyer October 15, 2009 Dutch bank DSB was given a stay of execution yesterday as a judge gave the bank 24 hours to find a buyer before it is declared bankrupt. DSB has until midday tomorrow to come up with a buyer, at which point the court will hold a further hearing. DSB was placed under administration at the [...]
BAE predicts good growth, unsure over bribery costs October 14, 2009 BAE Systems, europe’s largest defence firm, forecast “good growth” for the rest of the year yesterday, despite a slump in its sale of land vehicles.The group also added it expected trading to “benefit from any continued weakness of sterling against the US dollar.” The US accounts for around 60 per cent of BAE’s sales, and [...]
REDSTONE SELLS $1BN OF STOCK October 14, 2009 SUMNER Redstone plans to sell $945m (£591m) of stock in CBS and Viacom, two media companies he controls, to pay off loans that threatened to unravel his media empire. Shares of both CBS and Viacom dropped after Redstone revealed he would use the proceeds to pay off the debts of his privately-held cinema chain, National [...]
Scrappage scheme gives Vertu a boost October 14, 2009 VERTU, the motor dealer, saw its profits for the six months to the end of August surge 47.4 per cent, as the government’s scrappage scheme boosted sales. The Newcastle-based group, which trades as Bristol Street Motors, reported pre-tax profits of £2.8m, up from £1.9m last year, and said it had sold 1,686 cars under the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 14, 2009 ITVInvestec moved ITV from “hold” to “sell” and raised its price target to 46p. The broker believes material management and structural challenges remain and that the valuation already discounts an earnings recovery on a long-term view. But it has a positive macro-view and notes that TV ad spend is improving. AMLINCredit Suisse upgraded Amlin to [...]
Kentz wins double contract October 14, 2009 Kentz, the engineering and construction group, has won two contracts with a combined value of about A$109m (£52m) in Western Australia. Kentz said it won these contracts through its Australian joint venture operating company Thiess Kentz. The value attributable to Kentz is 50 per cent of the joint venture, it added.
Ford in drive for vehicle recall October 14, 2009 Ford has widened the US car industry’s -biggest-ever recall by 4.5m vehicles due to a faulty cruise-control switch linked to hundreds of fires. So far 14.3m vehicles have been recalled.
Maybe ITV would do better without a chief exec October 14, 2009 CRISIS? What crisis? That was the line that Michael Grade, the outgoing executive chairman of ITV, took when being questioned by a House of Lords committee yesterday. Hitting out at media coverage of the broadcaster’s bungled attempts to find a replacement chairman and chief executive, he said ITVwas a business in fine fettle. In a [...]
Rio raises its iron forecast despite slump October 14, 2009 MINING giant Rio Tinto put up its production outlook for iron ore yesterday, and upped its full year guidance on the commodity thanks to strong demand from steelmakers. Rio, the second-largest miner of the ore – which is used to make steel – said it had seen early signs of recovery in key markets, with [...]