Balfour Beatty share price climbs after £1bn offer for investment arm is confirmed December 1, 2014 Balfour Beatty’s share price has risen over five per cent in early morning trading, after John Laing Infrastructure Fund (JLIF) confirmed plans to make a £1bn offer for its investment arm. Following reports suggesting John Laing was eyeing Balfour’s portfolio of public-private partnership assets, the City fund moved to confirm its offer this morning. [...]
Rouble plummets again on oil and China woes December 1, 2014 The rouble fell at its fastest rate since the Russian crisis in 1998 this morning, as it approaches the end of the year as the world's worst-performing currency. The currency fell 3.1 per cent to 52.00 against the dollar, at 2.5 per cent to 64.55 against the euro during early trading. In the past week [...]
Kier to bid for Mouchel? Housebuilder confirms “preliminary discussions” December 1, 2014 Kier Group's share price opened slightly lower this morning after it made a statement confirming it has held preliminary discussions regarding the possible acquisition of infrastructure builder Mouchel. According to online blog Betaville the going price for Mouchel will be £400m, although other sources mention figures as high as £500m. Mouchel was forced into administration in [...]
Northern Line Tube strike: “90 per cent service is running”, says Transport for London December 1, 2014 The Northern Line is running a good service, with 90 per cent of trains running on time – despite a 24-hour strike by Northern Line drivers, Transport for London (TfL) said today. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are on strike over the sacking of a driver who failed a breath test, but [...]
BG Group shareholders welcome Helge Lund salary deal December 1, 2014 BG Group shareholders have praised its remuneration committee, after the company gave in to shareholders over new chief executive Helge Lund's hefty £25m remuneration package. The oil and gas company said this morning it will reduce the planned remuneration package, which the Institute of directors (IoD) has slammed as “excessive, inflammatory and contrary to the [...]
Aberdeen Asset Management profits edge up after Scottish Widows acquisition December 1, 2014 Aberdeen Asset Management (AAM) posted slightly higher profits as it said it had weathered a "volatile" year. Figures for the year to the end of September showed underlying profit before tax of £490.3m, up from £482.7m last year. Statutory profit before tax fell from £390.3m last year to £354.6m, partly because of the purchase of [...]
George Osborne puts his money on roadbuilding and reveals Stonehenge tunnel plans November 30, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne will today unveil plans to build a tunnel under historic landmark Stonehenge, as he sets out how £15bn will be spent to overhaul British roads. The announcement marks the end of a long-running battle for a tunnel at the site, after plans were dropped seven years ago because of cost. Deputy prime [...]
Worker Bees: Cyber Monday piles on the pressure November 30, 2014 Today’s Cyber Monday event could be the biggest shopping day of the year – keeping Amazon’s warehouses packed to the rafters. Amazon, which sold 5.5m items on Friday at a rate of 64 purchases a second, has filled warehouses, such as this one at Peterborough, with 13,000 extra staff to meet pre-Christmas demand. The Centre [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: £2bn cash boost for NHS is not enough, says Labour November 30, 2014 Chancellor George Osborne announced a £2bn boost to NHS spending yesterday, ahead of formal plans which will be set out in the Autumn Statement. However, Labour hit back almost immediately, arguing that the extra cash is nowhere near enough to plug a hole in the healthcare budget. Speaking on the Andrew Marr show yesterday the [...]
Triple lock plan to end fiscal drag November 30, 2014 THE INSTITUTE of Directors has offered up a bold new policy for George Osborne to consider in Autumn Statement week. The business group wants to see a triple lock system for income tax to ensure that the threshold for the higher rate increases each year by either the retail prices index, average wage inflation or [...]