Invensys signals dividend return May 14, 2009 Engineering firm Invensys said yesterday it would make its first dividend payment since 2003. Chief executive Ulf Henriksson said the recommendation of 1.5p a share was a “prudent level” that should allow for a progressive dividend policy in future. Revenue in the year to March rose to £2.2bn from £2.1bn, but pre-tax profit fell to [...]
BT SAYS SORRY TO INVESTORS May 14, 2009 BT CHIEF executive Ian Livingston yesterday apologised to shareholders after an “unacceptable performance” by BT Global Services (BTGS) forced the firm to cut its dividend for the first time in eight years. Writedowns of £1.3bn against BTGS, which supplies IT services to multinational companies, drove a loss of £134m in the year ending March 2009 [...]
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BT’S RESULTS? May 14, 2009 DAVID MOLONY OVUM“In a sense, it was one of the most important announcements since BT was floated. However, despite a knock to the confidence in their business, there was plenty to be happy about. Broadband is very strong, conferencing and business services are too. And Global Services is still winning business. If a company can [...]
Profits posted at Royal Mail despite slump May 14, 2009 ROYAL MAIL’S profits have almost doubled, the postal service said yesterday, as all four sections of the company entered the black for the first time in two decades. The whole group’s operating profit hit £321m for the year to the end of March, up from £162m last year, and showed its letter delivery arm and [...]
Trio of bidders go head to head in war for stake in broker Panmure Gordon May 14, 2009 HEDGE fund millionaire Bertrand des Pallieres went head to head with private equity firm BlueGem and a mystery bidder last night in the fight for a large stake in Panmure Gordon, one of the City’s oldest stockbrokers. Final proposals were due in by yesterday evening, in time for a board meeting at Panmure today to [...]
Russian plots Lloyd’s entry via Chaucer May 14, 2009 RUSSIAN billionaire Alex Knaster unveiled plans to buy his way into the Lloyd’s of London insurance market yesterday, saying he is interested in taking a 29.9 per cent stake in Chaucer Holdings. Chaucer chief executive Ewen Gilmour confirmed the interest and ongoing takeover discussions, from Knaster’s private equity firm Pamplona Capital, in an official statement [...]
Sony braces the market for further losses May 14, 2009 SONY Corporation forecast a second straight year of losses as the global recession battered demand for consumer electronics. But the Japanese company stopped short of taking any new aggressive steps to cut costs further. Sony, which competes with Samsung Electronics in LCD TVs and Canon in digital cameras, forecast an operating loss of 110 billion yen [...]
Ratings firms slated in MPs’ crunch report May 14, 2009 CREDIT ratings agencies (CRAs) should bear some of the responsibility for financial instability, the Treasury committee said yesterday, as it revealed its report on corporate governance and remuneration at financial services firms in the wake of the credit crunch. The committee, led by Labour attack dog John McFall, said it was “deeply concerned by the [...]
Lehman’s remaining assets set to rise from ashes as a spin off is considered May 14, 2009 LEHMAN Brothers Holdings, which filed for bankruptcy last September, is now looking at spinning off its remaining assets. The assets, which include real-estate and private-equity holdings held in its Legacy Asset Management unit, are believed to currently be valued at around $45bn, but which at non-distressed prices could fetch up to $400bn according to internal [...]
Japan’s MUFG abandons plan to snap up NikkoCiti May 14, 2009 JAPAN’S largest bank Mitsubishi UFG (MUFG) yesterday walked away from a $262m (£172m) deal to buy Citigroup’s trust bank NikkoCiti. An unlisted unit of the bank called Mitsubishi UFJ Trust said in December that it was prepared to snap up the unit, but the transaction was called off after rival Sumitomo Mitsui beat MUFG to [...]