WPP subsidiary acquires majority stake in online rival August 19, 2013 Corporate communications agency Addison, a wholly-owned subsidiary of British advertising giant WPP, announced this morning it has acquired a majority stake in Emaxol, the holding company of online rival IR Group (release). IR Group (“The Group”) employs 65 people and specialises in designing, building, hosting and developing corporate websites and digital consulting services. Clients include [...]
Spanish banks’ “bad loans” hit seven-month high August 19, 2013 The Spanish central bank has said the level of “bad loans” on banks' balance sheets in June hit levels not seen since November 2012 (release). The Banco de Espana said loans to debtors with a high chance of default increased by 0.1 per cent month-on-month to €176.4bn (£150.5bn) in June. This brought the bad loans [...]
Hopes for Japan-Russia peace deal August 19, 2013 The deputy foreign ministers of Japan and Russia are meeting in Moscow today to strengthen cooperative ties in a further step towards resolving a territorial dispute which stopped them from signing a peace treaty after World War II. The meeting between Shinsuke Sugiyama and Igor Morgulov follows an agreement between Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe [...]
Kentz share price jumps by a quarter on takeover rejection August 19, 2013 Shares in engineering group Kentz have rocketed up nearly 25 per cent on the news it rejected a takeover offer from rival AMEC. Kentz said the offer of 565p to 580p per share – representing as much as £680m total – undervalued the company. The company announced it was not considering any offers, including another [...]
Housebuilding boss downplays Help to Buy influence August 19, 2013 Housebuilder Bovis Homes Group has announced a 19 per cent jump in first half pre-tax profits to £18.6m and that it has already sold around 90 per cent of its homes for the year. However, its chief executive denied the success was due entirely to a government-fuelled housing bubble (release). Bovis’s average house price increased [...]
US Treasury yields hit two year highs August 19, 2013 Source: Market Watch Ten-year US Treasury yields hit 2.873 per cent this morning – the highest point since July 2011. This comes as investors express concern about the potential tapering off of bond buying by the US Federal Reserve as early as September. Although higher US yields typically give a boost to the dollar (by [...]
Insurer Amlin “optimistic” despite fall in profits August 19, 2013 Insurance group Amlin has reported it made a first half pre-tax profit of £161.4m, in line with analyst expectations (release). Despite the fall from £184.4m in the same period the previous year, the combined ratio came in at 85 per cent. Basic earnings per share fell to 28.2p from 34.1p. Chief executive Charles Philipps said [...]
Before the open – 19/08 August 19, 2013 The Nikkei erased early losses last night as the yen weakened against the dollar, boosting the competitive edge for exporters. This morning, it was reported that the trade deficit hit a record high in July while import and export growth accelerated. The trade deficit hit a record high of 1.024 trillion yen in July (182.3bn [...]
Kentz rejects £680m takeover offer August 19, 2013 The board of engineering solutions specialist Kentz has unanimously rejected a £680m cash offer from rival AMEC on the grounds it undervalues the company (release). This morning, AMEC confirmed speculation it made the offer in an attempt to boost its geographic coverage and grow its oil and gas and mining businesses. The offer of 565p [...]
Partner of journalist who published Snowden leaks detained at Heathrow August 19, 2013 The Brazilian partner of Guardian jounalist Glenn Greenwald who published documents leaked by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden was held for nine hours at Heathrow on his way to Rio de Janeiro. David Miranda was held at Heathrow airport from 8:05 and released at 17:00. Nine hours is the maximum allowed time [...]