ANALYST VIEWS WAS FRIENDS PROVIDENT RIGHT TO REJECT RESOLUTION’S TAKEOVER APPROACH? July 27, 2009 DUNCAN HALL FINNCAP“My view is that Resolution was putting out a pretty forceful, self-declamatory stance, basically claiming they had all the answers in the universe, that nobody else had. In this case Friends felt they are not convinced by that line so yes they were right. But, that is not to say there aren’t issues [...]
Pernod Ricard sells July 27, 2009 Tia Maria Drinks company Pernod Ricard yesterday announced the disposal of coffee liqueur Tia Maria to Illva Saronno for a cash consideration of ? 125m (£107.7m) on a cash free/debt free basis. The transaction was lower than the ?200m Pernod hoped to make from the sale. The sale of Tia Maria, together with other disposals, [...]
Rexam dives on rights issue July 27, 2009 Shares in the world’s largest drinks can maker, Rexam, plunged yesterday after confirming it was considering a rights issue. Rexam shares dived by 12 per cent to 284.5p after the group said a cash call was an option to avoid a downgrade in its credit rating to junk status. The group, which has net debts [...]
Beazley profits dive on currency July 27, 2009 Lloyd’s of London insurer Beazley reported a 55 per cent drop in its half-year profit, blaming currency fluctuations, and said it expected to benefit from rising insurance prices in the months ahead. Beazley had a pre-tax profit of £20.1m in the six months to 30 June, down from £45m in 2008.
MPs slam railway franchise structure July 27, 2009 THE Transport Select Committee branded the railway franchise system “a mess” yesterday, calling for massive reforms on the lines, and for the nationalisation of the troubled East Coast mainline. The cross-party group of MPs said it wants the East Coast mainline – which is set to taken away from operator National Express later this year [...]
CITY VIEWS: SHOULD THE EAST COAST MAINLINE BE KEPT IN PUBLIC OR PRIVATE HANDS? July 27, 2009 PHIL LONG ASPEN INSURANCE“Rail franchises are better off in public hands in the long run. The focus is on profit when private companies run them, and not on customer service. The private sector just cherry picks the best lines to suit them, and it’s all too easy to dispose of them when they aren’t profitable.” [...]
Banco Popular bad loans to ease off July 27, 2009 Banco Popular saw first-half net profit decline by nearly 35 per cent to €442.6m (£382m) yesterday, but offered an optimistic assessment of bad loans growth. Chief financial officer Jacobo Gonzalez-Robatto said the bank did not expect non-performing loans to exceed between five and five per cent in 2009, after new bad loans fell by 41 [...]
We are all slowly becoming individual capitalists July 27, 2009 DR JONATHAN M Scott and Matthew Sinclair of the Taxpayers’ Alliance this week publish “Tax and entrepreneurship – How the tax system impedes the creation of new firms and decreases employment”. Growing up in the household of an entrepreneur, and through my 12 years in the UK working with some of the best entrepreneurs of [...]
Thales hit by plane delays July 27, 2009 DEFENCE group Thales swung into the red for the first half of 2009, the company said yesterday, blaming writedowns and aerospace industry weakness for its losses. First-half operating profit slumped to €68m. The deeper-than-expected 82 per cent slide in profits reported by new boss Luc Vigneron came after Thales reported a fresh €102m (£87m) loss, [...]
TNT profits slip as cost-savings targets are hiked July 27, 2009 TNT yesterday reported a 45 per cent fall in quarterly core profit, its fourth consecutive year-on-year decline, and the Dutch mail company boosted its cost savings target to cope with weaker demand for delivery services. Europe’s second-largest mail and express delivery company after Deutsche Post also decided to issue an interim dividend of €0.18 per [...]