High spending Brits boost Tui Travel’s profits December 10, 2013 TUI TRAVEL posted better than expected profits yesterday thanks to strong sales of more expensive holidays to British and German customers. The travel operator behind Thomson and First Choice holiday brands posted a 13 per cent rise in underlying operating profit to £555m for the year to 30 September driven by the growing popularity of [...]
HSBC insists China focus remains after €470m sale to Santander December 10, 2013 SANTANDER, Spain’s largest bank, is to buy HSBC’s eight per cent stake in Bank of Shanghai, just as many international rivals are beginning to sell out of China. The Spanish giant said yesterday that the Bank of Shanghai deal also included a cooperation agreement, taking the value of its investment to €470m (£393m). Asia-focused HSBC [...]
Healthcare head quits 3i December 10, 2013 THERE’S no let-up in the amount of change going on at 3i, the private equity group, that is still being shaken up by chief executive and former Greenhill investment banker Simon Borrows. Yesterday it emerged that Denis Ribon, the global head of healthcare, has decided to leave to set up his own growth fund. Ribon [...]
Former government adviser Jacobi joins Weir Group board December 10, 2013 ENGINEERING firm Weir Group said it has hired Mary Jo Jacobi, a former adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, as a non-executive board director, as rumours of a £5.9bn takeover offer from General Electric sent its shares to the top of the FTSE 100 yesterday morning. Weir’s share price went up over 2.5 per cent [...]
Ward to be new Brit chairman December 10, 2013 OUTGOING chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, Richard Ward, is to become chairman of Brit Insurance in February 2014. Mark Cloutier, chief executive of Brit said: “Richard’s experience and understanding of the global marketplace is second to none and I am extremely pleased he will be bringing his great depth of experience and knowledge to [...]
Publisher Informa to move tax base back to the UK next year December 10, 2013 PUBLISHING firm Informa Group yesterday said it would shift its tax base back to the UK, four years after it moved to Switzerland to escape former chancellor Alastair Darling’s proposal to tax foreign profits. The group, which publishes titles including Lloyd’s List, plans to change its tax base in 2014, subject to shareholders voting through [...]
Investors cheer as CSR backs off camera market December 10, 2013 SHARES in chipmaker CSR got an early boost yesterday, as investors welcomed its plans to retreat from the digital camera market. CSR jumped 10 per cent as markets opened after revealing that it would stop investing in its camera-on-a-chip programme, which is used in traditional point and shoot digital cameras. The Cambridge-based firm blamed weak [...]
Bottom Line: New focus proves smartphones are king December 10, 2013 IF further proof were needed that smartphone photos became a dominant form of communication in 2013, it was certainly provided yesterday by the Danish PM. Caught selfie-ing alongside David Cameron and Barack Obama at Nelson Mandela’s memorial yesterday, Helle Thorning-Schmidt didn’t bother taking her camera along to the event – she just whipped out her phone [...]
Alitalia hits cash target December 10, 2013 ITALY’S troubled airline Alitalia has raised €300m (£251m) in its capital increase, including an investment by the state-owned postal service, a source close to the matter said. “Including subscriptions by existing shareholders, new investors and the investment by the postal service, the €300m target has been reached,” the source said yesterday. An Alitalia spokeswoman said [...]
US construction recovery boosts full-year outlook for Ashtead December 10, 2013 FTSE 250-listed equipment rental firm Ashtead yesterday said it believes full-year profit will hit the upper end of expectations, after the US construction recovery boosted first-half results. The company posted a 49 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £212m for the first half of the year and a 23 per cent increase in revenue [...]