Weir Group share price falls as engineering firm plans to cut 350 jobs in efficiency drive November 4, 2014 Engineering firm Weir Group will close five of its manufacturing facilities and cut around 350 jobs in 2015, the company announced yesterday in its third-quarter results. A group-wide review undertaken with the aim of identifying opportunities to reduce costs “while aligning resources globally to capture end market opportunities”. In addition to the plant closures, Weir [...]
DCC Energy hit as mild weather impacts profits November 4, 2014 Mild weather in the six months to September knocked results at support services firm DCC, as operating profit in its energy division took a 4.7 per cent downward turn, falling from £33.5m to £31.9m. Tommy Breen, chief executive at DCC, said the group estimated that the warmer than expected weather had had a negative effect [...]
Santander to win more than 1m new customers in seven-day bank account switching war November 4, 2014 Santander is on track to gain 1m new customers this year, as it emerges as the clear winner of the current account switching scheme. The bank yesterday reported it had gained 900,000 new customers so far this year, with one quarter of 2014 still to go. Of those, 208,800 have switched their current accounts from [...]
Allen & Overy advises on $1bn Xiaomi loan November 4, 2014 Allen & Overy is advising on a $1bn (£625m) loan for Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi. Partners Vicki Liu and Yvonne Ho lead the Allen & Overy team with support from associates Elaine Liu and Welber Yim. The loan is being provided by a syndicate of 29 lenders from Chinese, European, North American and [...]
BMW throttles back on forecast for sales despite rising profits November 4, 2014 German car maker BMW has applied the brakes to its expectations for sales this year, despite reporting yesterday a forecast-beating operating profit in the third quarter, when strong demand for sports utility vehicles helped to offset lacklustre sales of electric cars. Quarterly profits rose 17 per cent to €2.26bn (£1.77bn), above the average forecast of €2bn [...]
Qatar Investment Fund joining China’s Citic Group in $10bn funding for Asia November 4, 2014 Qatar Investment Fund and Chinese state-owned investment company Citic Group are planning a $10bn (£6.25bn) fund to invest in Asia. The pair have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the joint-venture investment fund, with the deal planned for completion in coming months, QIA chief executive Ahmed Al-Sayed told reporters at an investment conference in [...]
Dish chief given controlling stake in rival telecoms firm November 4, 2014 CHARLIE Ergen, chairman of US broadcast satellite service provider Dish, is to receive a 60 per cent controlling stake in LightSquared under the terms of the American wireless broadband company’s new restructuring plan, a New York court declared on Monday. The deal sees control of LightSquared move from its owner, hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, [...]
Japan market hits seven-year high on back of Bank stimulus November 4, 2014 Japanese shares yesterday jumped to a seven-year high after last week’s surprise stimulus move by the country’s central bank. In a rally that started last Friday, the Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.7 per cent at 16,862.47 after being shut for a holiday on Monday. The rally was not interrupted by a fall in Japan’s [...]
City Moves for 05 November 2014 | Who’s switching jobs November 4, 2014 Deloitte The business advisory firm has announced two appointments. David Halstead (pictured) becomes leader of the technology sector, and Mark Lee-Amies has been appointed audit lead for Deloitte’s UK technology, media and telecoms (TMT) industry practice. Henderson Global Investors Glen Finegan has been appointed head of emerging market equities at the asset management firm. He was [...]
Best of the Brokers for 05 November 2014 November 4, 2014 HALFORDS Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its “hold” rating ahead of the firm’s interim results, due tomorrow. The broker said Halfords’ cycling business “should have benefited from the better summer weather” and busy calendar of major cycling events. PHOENIX IT GROUP Westhouse Securities reiterated its “buy” rating after Phoenix announced its participation in Microsoft’s new Cloud Solution [...]