SAAB SALE SKIDS August 18, 2009 KOENIGSEGG, the supercar maker that is in talks to buy Swedish brand Saab from General Motors (GM) was last night locked in talks with the Swedish government over additional funds it needs to take over Saab. Earlier yesterday, GM said it had struck a firm agreement to sell Saab, but Koenigsegg said it only had [...]
Inflation rate holds steady but will drop August 18, 2009 INFLATION unexpectedly held steady in July, as rises in the prices of games, toys and hobbies offset falls in the cost of food and drinks. But economists warned that deflation still looms. The Office for National Statistics said that the consumer price index (CPI) – the government’s preferred measure – was unchanged from June, keeping [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE YOU EXPECTING THE PRICE OF GOODS TO KEEP FALLING? August 18, 2009 HANESH PURI COCA COLA ENTERPRISES“I think prices will level out soon, and consumer spending will increase. I’m personally waiting for a year to monitor market fluctuations before I make any large purchases. Consumers don’t yet have the confidence to spend.” IAN JACKSON IROKO SECURITIES“Although it came in below economists expectations, I wasn’t disappointed in the [...]
Bidders circle British Land’s Broadgate August 18, 2009 BRITISH Land yesterday revealed it had been approached by several buyers interested in snapping up a 50 per cent stake in Broadgate, its iconic City development. US private equity group Blackstone has been tipped to beat rivals to a share of the 16 office buildings close to Liverpool Street Station. Yesterday finance director Graham Roberts [...]
Scrap plan boosts Pendragon August 18, 2009 CAR DEALER Pendragon said yesterday its first-half profit has halved, but added the government’s “cash-for-bangers” scheme had boosted sales, and that the slump was coming to an end. The UK’s largest car dealership, which trades as Stratstone, Evans Halshaw and Chatfields, reported a pre-tax profit of £8.7m for the six months to June, on revenues [...]
Veteran telecoms boss quits board of SpinVox August 18, 2009 TROUBLED voice-to-text messaging firm SpinVox has parted ways with director Patricia Russo, the former boss of telecoms equipment giant Alcatel-Lucent, just two months after her appointment to the board. Russo, whose extensive experience in the sector would have proved invaluable to SpinVox, had been advising the firm on its strategy since the beginning of the [...]
NAB snaps up Challenger unit August 18, 2009 National Australia Bank, the top lender in Australia, said yesterday it has agreed to buy Challenger Financial Services’ mortgage unit for A$385m (£192m) to up its market share. NAB said the deal would give it an additional A$4bn worth of residential mortgages. The acquisition follows its purchase of Aviva’s Australian businesses in June for A$825m, [...]
TfL seeks to smooth out traffic August 18, 2009 Transport for London (TfL) is set to smooth traffic flow by identifying traffic hotspots, it said yesterday. Intelligent traffic cameras that detect jams as they build up are set to revolutionise the way TfL tackles congestion in the Capital. Twenty cameras fitted with special image recognition technology have been put at traffic hot spots across London.
Rok stuck in a hard place August 18, 2009 Shares in self-styled “local” builder Rok slumped yesterday after the company posted a 47 per cent drop in first-half pre-tax profits to £6m. Evolution analyst Philip Sparks – who cut his rating on the stock to “Add” from “Buy” – said he had hoped the results would herald the beginning of a re-rating for Rok. [...]
Slump hits Fresnillo August 17, 2009 FRESNILLO, the world’s largest silver producer, yesterday said its profits in the first-half had slumped 10.8 per cent, as prices for the precious metal tumble in the downturn. The Mexican company, which is listed in London, said pre-tax profits for the period were $179.9m (£110.3m) down from $201.6m the previous year.But the miner said it [...]