Babcock takes over MoD unit in £140m deal December 17, 2014 THE MINISTRY of Defence (MoD) has sold its repair and maintenance unit Defence Support Group (DSG) to Babcock for £140m. The deal includes a 10-year contract for Babcock, the firm in charge of decommissioning the UK’s aging nuclear power plants, to provide maintenance, repair, overhaul and storage of current military vehicles and light weapons. The [...]
Xmas bargains await British homebuyers December 17, 2014 A THIRD of all UK properties currently on the market have seen their asking prices lowered at least once since being put up for sale, research from British property website Zoopla revealed yesterday. The figure is up from 27 per cent earlier this year and represents the highest level of discounting since August 2012. A [...]
Car sales leads to strong demand at AK Steel December 17, 2014 AK Steel Holding expects shipments to jump 37 per cent to 2m tons in the current quarter, helped by acquisitions and strong auto-industry demand. The company said substantially lower iron ore, carbon scrap and energy costs in the fourth quarter, also helped growth.
China’s Baidu confirms Uber investment plan December 17, 2014 CHINESE internet giant Baidu confirmed yesterday it is buying a stake in fast-growing international car-hailing service Uber as the pair chase growth in one of the world’s largest transportation markets. The companies did not disclose how big a stake Baidu is taking, nor how much it is paying for the investment, announced jointly in Beijing. [...]
FedEx stock falls 5pc as it misses profit expectations for quarter December 17, 2014 FEDEX yesterday posted lower-than-expected quarterly earnings as results at its FedEx Ground and FedEx Freight units missed estimates, and it reiterated an outlook analysts consider conservative, sending its stock down nearly five per cent. On a conference call with analysts, FedEx executives said labour problems at West Coast ports this year had left cargo shipments [...]
City Moves for 18 December 2014 | Who’s switching jobs December 17, 2014 Rightster The Aim-listed video distribution and monetisation network has appointed Niall Dore as group finance director. He was previously finance director at Betfair Group, and has also held group financial controller positions at GE Life and Hyder Consulting. Zeus Capital Hugo Chance has been appointed director, head of family offices, at the independent investment bank. [...]
Best of the Brokers for 18 December 2014 December 17, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com TRICORN GROUP Westhouse reiterated its “buy” rating following news that the firm has won a five-year £10m contract with Maxpower. The broker said the deal “helps to provide a solid underpinning to our forecasts as well as acting as a strong reference client”. [...]
FTSE 100 edges up as oil and metals recover – London Report December 17, 2014 Energy and mining stocks rallied to help the UK’s top share index end slightly higher after a sharp decline earlier in the session, buoyed by a recovery in crude oil and industrial metals prices. Expectations the European Central Bank will take fresh measures to support the region’s economy and that the US Federal Reserve’s final [...]
S&P prints best day in more than a year – New York Report December 17, 2014 THE S&P 500 scored its best result since October 2013 yesterday, as the Federal Reserve gave an upbeat assessment of the economy and said it would take a patient approach toward lifting interest rates. The rally, which followed a three-day losing streak, was also driven by a 4.2 per cent gain in the S&P energy [...]
Federal Reserve policy statement: Interest rate hike is getting closer December 17, 2014 The Federal Reserve's policy statement shows it's inching closer to an interest rate hike. Here are some of the key takes. "Considerable time" is gone The Fed has dropped its "considerable time" approach to interest rates rises instead favouring "patience" in normalising policy. "Considerable time" was widely believed to mean six months so many commentators [...]