Cobham’s rising orders fail to lift its bottom line March 5, 2015 SHARES in aerospace firm Cobham drifted down yesterday as full-year results revealed rising orders failed to translate into profits. The company’s reliance on defence contracts took its toll as governments around the world cut military budgets. Its US market, which alone accounts for 34 per cent of earnings, saw revenues fall four per cent as [...]
Aggreko profits hit by commodities rout March 5, 2015 GENERATOR rental company Aggreko saw profits slump as the ongoing commodities rout saw its high exposure to the Australian mining sector hit demand. Revenues at the company’s Asia, Pacific and Australia (Apac) division fell by 19 per cent as a slowdown in the mining sector meant fewer mines opened. The decline in Apac revenues translated [...]
Inmarsat up in spite of state revenues blow March 5, 2015 INMARSAT, the global satellite communications group, yesterday said it had steady revenues and profit growth in 2014 yesterday, despite ongoing weakness in its government division. “Continuing underlying L-band growth in maritime, enterprise and aviation during the year was offset by continued weakness in our government business in the US, although this decline slowed towards the [...]
Mandarin Oriental rights issue raises $316m March 5, 2015 THE OWNER of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Knightsbridge raised $316m (£207m) via a right issue yesterday to help reduce debt and pay for the £85m revamp of the five-star hotel. The fundraising came as the Mandarin Oriental International posted a record underlying profit of $97m in 2014, up four per cent on the previous [...]
Aviva ensures FTSE stays near its record high – London Report March 5, 2015 ARALLY by insurance giant Aviva and same sector shares pushed the FTSE100 closer to record highs again yesterday. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.6 per cent at 6,961.14 points, near the 6,974.26 record it set this month. Traders said that European equities were further supported by confirmation that the European Central Bank (ECB) [...]
UPDATE: Quindell share price recovers after it sells stake in Nationwide Accident Repair Services and announces share issue March 5, 2015 Shares in insurance outsourcing firm Quindell started the day six per cent lower at 88p, but then bounced back to 91p by mid afternoon after it said it had sold its minority stake in Nationwide Accident Repair Services. It said it sold its stake in the British building society’s vehicle repair service on 4 March for 65 pence [...]
Aviva share price rises after full-year profit leaps and final dividend gets a 30pc boost March 5, 2015 The figures: UK insurer Aviva said full-year operating profit rose six percent to £2.17bn in 2014, slightly above forecasts of £2.15bn. It proposed a 30 per cent increase to its final dividend taking it to 12.25 pence per share, cheering investors and pushing the company's share price up six per cent to 564 pence per share at pixel [...]
Former Virgin Media exec Eamonn O’Hare plots telecoms raid March 4, 2015 The man who engineered Virgin Media’s $24bn (£15bn) blockbuster sale to Liberty Global has unveiled ambitious plans to take advantage of frenzied deal activity in Europe’s telecoms market. Ex-Virgin Media finance boss Eamonn O’Hare’s dramatic comeback, revealed last night, will involve raising cash in London to snap up struggling telecoms assets across the continent. [...]
London luxury fashion company Farfetch valued at $1bn as it raises $86m March 4, 2015 Online luxury fashion company Farfetch has been valued at $1bn (£656m) after completing a round of investment led by software company DST Global. The firm raised $86m, with existing shareholders Conde Nast International and Vitruvian Partners also participating, taking the total amount raised by the company at over $195m. London-based Farfetch was established in 2008, [...]
FTSE 100 and 250 quarterly review: Hikma, AA, Virgin Money Holdings and Imagination Technologies Group are in and Afren, Game Digital and Oxford Instruments are out March 4, 2015 The FTSE Group has released its quarterly review showing which companies have edged into the index and which have dropped out. Hikma Pharmaceuticals made its way into the FTSE 100 while Tullow Oil has fallen out of the top index. Hikma floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2005. Tullow will now join the FTSE [...]