Vedanta sweetens its bid for copper mining assets August 11, 2009 METALS group Vedanta Resources upped the ante on its bid for the assets of bankrupt US copper miner Asarco yesterday. Vedanta’s subsidiary Sterlite is fighting Grupo Mexico in a court in Texas for the assets. It hiked up its offer to $1.59bn (£957m) cash, from the $1.1bn it originally offered, and cut the value of [...]
Interserve boosted by outsourcing August 11, 2009 SHARES in building maintenance firm Interserve rose yesterday after it reported an 18.7 per cent rise in first-half profit and said economic pressures would further boost public and private sector outsourcing. The firm, which cleans Britain’s crown courts and maintains government buildings, posted a pre-tax profit of £40m, up 18.7 per cent year-on-year, on sales [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 11, 2009 Piper JaffrayThe boutique investment bank has hired Richard Kirkham, formerly a partner at Oriel Securities, as a principal of European equity sales. Kirkham was previously a director of UK small and mid-cap sales at Teather and Greenwood. He will be responsible for developing business relationships with assigned institutional accounts. BarclaycardBarclaycard has appointed David Daniel as [...]
FLAKEY SALES FOR PASTY FIRM August 11, 2009 HIGH street baker Greggs yesterday said wet weather has dampened sales, and reported flat sales in the six weeks to 8 August. Previously, sales were up 1.5 per cent in the half year to 27 June. The sausage roll and pasty maker, which attracts 6m customers a week, said pre-tax profits were up 7.3 per [...]
Terry Smith broker gears up for revival August 11, 2009 STOCKBROKER Collins Stewart yesterday signalled tentative signs of recovery as it confirmed a slew of new senior hires, despite posting a 36 per cent plunge in profits for the first half of the year. Collins Stewart, chaired by City veteran Terry Smith, said pre-tax profits fell to £6.1m, down from £9.6m in the first half [...]
Adecco surprises with a loss August 11, 2009 SWISS recruitment group Adecco surprised the market yesterday with a second-quarter net loss of €147m (£126m), compared to expectations of a €29m net profit, and announced a new round of cost-cutting. Adecco, the world’s largest recruiter, said that the loss was driven by impairment charges of €192m on goodwill and intangible assets. It added that [...]
International Power is boosted by strong sales in Asia and Oz August 11, 2009 ELECTRICITY producer International Power said yesterday it made a pre-tax profit of £579m, up from £2m in the same period from the year before, boosted by sales in Asia and Australia. The company said operating profit for the six months to 30 June was up 12 per cent to £555m, beating analysts’ estimates. “All divisions [...]
Container ship firm to get lifeline August 11, 2009 THE owners of Hapag-Lloyd are preparing to throw the German container shipping company a financial lifeline. Shareholder consortium Albert Ballin and German tourism group TUI Hapag’s former parent, are gearing up to provide it with another €420m (£360m) after giving €330m in July. It is still undecided whether TUI will inject further cash or take [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 11, 2009 VODAFONENomura said that Vodafone’s European assets declined 2.7 per cent faster than its main rivals in the June quarter and the underperformance has increased over the past year. The broker is concerned that its forecasts assume a sudden return to stable revenue share next calendar year. It fears this is too optimistic and retains its [...]
AIRSPACE INQUIRY August 11, 2009 A US safety board is set to examine whether New York airspace regulations need tightening after a small plane collided with a sightseeing helicopter over the Hudson River last week, killing nine people. The National Transportation Safety Board is “going to be looking at the operations in this airspace,” Debbie Hersman, the board’s chairman, said. [...]