Analyst Views: What do you make of Mitchells & Butlers’ results? November 26, 2013 NICK BATRAM PEEL HUNT Full year numbers were slightly ahead of our expectations. It is early days but the start to the current year looks relatively lacklustre. However, the group is moving in the right direction and whilst the share price is about right we would see any significant weakness as a buying opportunity. GEOF [...]
Orrick and Pillsbury chairs call off plan for mega US law firm merger November 26, 2013 ONE of the biggest proposed US law firm mergers of the year has been called off, the leaders of the two firms confirmed yesterday. The potential merger between the California-based Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York would have created one of the largest law firms in the country. But [...]
Clifford Chance re-elects London managing partner Bickerton November 26, 2013 CLIFFORD Chance’s David Bickerton has been handed a second term as London managing partner of the Magic Circle law firm, following an uncontested election. The firm confirmed yesterday that Bickerton, who was first elected to the role in November 2009, would serve a further four-years in charge of the London office. Clifford Chance’s London operations are [...]
San Leon completes fracking test November 26, 2013 Dublin-headquartered oil and gas explorer San Leon Energy yesterday said its latest fracking test in the Gdansk region in Poland’s northern Baltic Basin has exceeded expectations. The company will now perform a flow test to quantify the gas flow rate and potential from the resource. “We look forward to finishing the clean up after running [...]
Aureus hires DRA for gold project November 26, 2013 Gold explorer Aureus Mining yesterday said that it has hired DRA Mineral Projects to provide engineering, procurement, construction and management services for the New Liberty gold project in Liberia. “[DRA is] very well placed to successfully execute the construction of the New Liberty project,” said David Reading, president and chief executive of the Aim-listed firm. [...]
Sable signs pact with Liberia November 26, 2013 Aim-listed iron ore explorer Sable Mining, co-founded by ex-England cricketer Phil Edmonds, said yesterday that its subsidiary West Africa Exploration has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Liberian government. The agreement is intended to lead to a deal to develop and operate rail and port infrastructure, which will be used to export ion [...]
Kcom to split its chief executive and chair roles November 26, 2013 COMMUNICATIONS and IT services provider Kcom Group will split the roles of chairman and chief executive, it revealed alongside hints of a significant upcoming government contract win. From 1 April next year Graham Holden will assume the role of chairman and Bill Halbert will keep the role of chief executive, as the company completes its [...]
Pinewood Shepperton profits up as studios plead for more space November 26, 2013 PINEWOOD Shepperton, the home of the James Bond series, has reeled in strong first-half growth but warned its needs more space to cope with demand for filming. The film studio operator’s results were boosted by productions such as Disney’s Cinderella and Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. And media investment revenue jumped to £11.2m in the [...]
Bayer bids £1.4bn for Norwegian cancer treatment partner Algeta November 26, 2013 BAYER has offered to pay £1.4bn for Norway’s Algeta, its partner for a new prostate cancer treatment, at a 27 per cent premium to the stock’s last close, Algeta said yesterday. The deal would boost Bayer’s drugs division by giving it outright control over Xofigo, a drug the two have developed jointly since 2009 and [...]
Bosch sells solar panel plant as £2bn loss takes shine off unit November 26, 2013 SOLARWORLD, once Germany’s top solar group, agreed to buy one of Bosch’s solar panel plants, as the car parts supplier rids itself of a business that caused it to post billions of euros worth of losses. Under the deal, SolarWorld will take over cell and module production capacity of a combined 900 megawatts (MW) from [...]