HSS Hire reports pre-tax loss of £8.5m in its first results since IPO April 20, 2015 The numbers Tool hire giant HSS Hire Group has reported a loss before tax of £8.5m for the year to 27 December 2014. Revenue was up 25 per cent to £284m, while operating profit rose 10.3 per cent to £23.6m. Why it's interesting Today is something of a landmark for HSS – it's the group's first [...]
Rio Tinto April 20, 2015 The figures xxx Why it's interesting The FTSE giant was the target of a failed takeover bid by rival Glencore and with the six month cooling period for offers having just come to an end, investors will be eager to see what kind of shape the miner is in with speculation that a new offer [...]
Workers strike as Deutsche Bank weighs up a sale of Postbank April 20, 2015 Deutsche Bank workers at its Postbank subsidiary voted to strike yesterday, as they demand employment protection amid a potential sale. A total of 94.8 per cent of the members of the Verdi union voted to strike indefinitely. To date, strikes have already closed 670 branches for as many as four days each. The union said [...]
Vince Cable warns of potential hiccup in Lloyds Bank shares sell-off April 20, 2015 A competition enquiry could upset Conservative party plans to sell billions of pounds of Lloyds Banking Group shares to the public by May 2016, Liberal Democrat business secretary Vince Cable said yesterday. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is set to publish its final report on the personal current accounts and small business banking markets [...]
Newcastle fans boycott Tottenham Hotspur game in protest over Mike Ashley ownership April 20, 2015 A group of Newcastle fans boycotted yesterday’s home match against Tottenham Hotspur in protest against current owner Mike Ashley, calling on him to leave. The plans were announced last week as strong negative sentiment towards the club’s ownership was compounded when it was revealed that United had more then £34.1m in cash reserves. Fans are [...]
Alliance Trust wins backing of City bosses April 19, 2015 Embattled Alliance Trust boss Katherine Garrett-Cox won the support of a series of business bosses over the weekend, as the leaders spoke up in favour of her stewardship. Activist investor Elliott Advisors is pushing to add three new directors to the FTSE 250 investment group’s board, arguing that its executives need to be pushed harder [...]
Beware, Sid – Lloyds sale could be tricky April 19, 2015 A big retail offering of Lloyds shares is on the cards. Large-scale privatisation is back. David Cameron is promising a £4bn sale of Lloyds shares to retail customers, swapping one big government shareholder for thousands of individuals. An instant comparison is with the 1980s. Giant firms like BT, BP and British Gas were taken out [...]
Mike Ashley funds purchase of Chelsea development worth £900m April 19, 2015 Mike Ashley has financed a deal for a lucrative development in Chelsea that could be worth around £900m according to reports. The Newcastle United owner and Sports Direct founder is said to have provided the £200m paid by Citygrove and McLaren Properties for a development site from John Lewis. According to The Sunday Times, the money [...]
Standard & Poor’s upgrades Nokia and puts Alcatel-Lucent on positive watch April 17, 2015 Was selling off its mobile manufacturing arm the best decision Nokia's management ever made? Following a generally positive reaction to its proposal to buy Alcatel-Lucent earlier this week, it's only gone and been upgraded by credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's… In a statement today S&P said it was upgrading the Finnish former mobile manufacturer [...]
Quindell share price edges up as investors vote in favour of Slater & Gordon deal April 17, 2015 Quindell shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a deal to sell its professional services arm to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon, with 99.1 per cent in favour of the deal. Shares in the company rose 1.3 per cent to 133p after the vote, which took place at an extraordinary general meeting held in [...]