Commerzbank shares up on chief executive’s promise to stay put August 9, 2013 Shares in Commerzbank opened up nearly 2.5 per cent after chief executive Martin Blessing said he would not step down until the bank’s reform programme had been completed. Speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt, Blessing said it would be “absurd” to leave before this point. I can and want to bring the reorganization of Commerzbank to [...]
Balfour Beatty sells off facilities management arm for £190m August 9, 2013 International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has announced it will be selling its UK facilities management business to French energy group GDF Suez for £190m in cash. The cash consideration will be reduced to account for liabilities passed on with the business. Completion is expected in the fourth quarter of this year with a net cash [...]
Brazilian finance minister calls for review of “excessive” austerity requirements for Greece August 9, 2013 Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega has told the Financial Times that the country would like the Greek rescue programmes to be reviewed and made more economically sustainable. The minister was attempting to explain the country’s stance on the issue after its representative at the International Monetary Fund Paulo Nogueira Batista abstained from a vote to [...]
French industrial production tumbles unexpectedly August 9, 2013 French industrial output unexpectedly plummeted in June, with national statistics body INSEE reporting a 1.4 per cent monthly fall following the previous month’s revised 0.3 per cent decline. Analysts had expected to see 0.1 per cent growth (release). Manufacturing fell by 0.4 per cent, falling 0.3 per cent year-on-year. The annual fall was driven primarily [...]
William Hill acquires loss-making Australian betting site for £20m August 9, 2013 William Hill, the world’s biggest bookmaker, has announced the acquisition of Australian online betting business Tom Waterhouse (tomwaterhouse.com) for an upfront cash consideration of A$34m (£20m). The bookie will also take on up to A$6m of balance sheet liabilities with the transaction and offered a potential additional earn-out of up to A$70m in cash if [...]
Tesco pulls out of independent Chinese operations amid growing regional competition August 9, 2013 Tesco has announced it will be ending its independent operations in China to embark on a joint venture with China Resources Enterprise (release). Tesco will merge 131 of its stores with 2.986 of CRE’s, taking advantage of the Chinese company’s “deep understanding of local customers, established nationwide infrastructure and proven track record as a partner [...]
HMRC catches just two of 20 most wanted tax evaders in a year of searching August 9, 2013 HM Revenue & Customs has published the names and photographs of the most wanted tax-dodgers in the UK. Ten new names have been added to the list this year (above), although just two of the original 20 (below) have been caught and one prosecuted. The tax authority published the data on its Flickr page. The [...]
Before the open – 09/08 – Asian rollercoasters August 9, 2013 Asian shares moved around a lot last night with most heading down towards the finish as mixed market signals drove prices. The Nikkei initially bounced back after days of losses last night on the back of a weakening yen against the dollar and good news from New York. However, it then fell after consumer confidence [...]
Tesla share price up over 420 per cent in one year August 8, 2013 Shares in Californian motor company Tesla rose over 14 per cent this afternoon to over 153 cents (around 99p) after the company reported forecast-beating second quarter results. This latest increase means share prices in the company are up over 420 per cent in just one year. Tesla said its second quarter revenue was $405m, with [...]
Champagne production expected to jump this year but Bordeaux has less to celebrate August 8, 2013 Champagne production is expected to increase by 56 per cent this year compared to 2012 – some 16 per cent higher than the average yield over the past five years. However, the French agriculture ministry has cut its overall wine production forecast to 11 per cent growth this year following a particularly poor harvest in [...]