Stansted workers head to Acas August 13, 2013 Baggage-scanning workers at Stansted Airport are heading to dispute resolution with Acas tomorrow in an attempt to avert planned strike action over the August bank holiday. Around 40 staff, who are employed by outsourcing group Mitie and represented by the GMB union, called the strike on Monday over a backdated pay cut imposed in June. [...]
Recession may end as Europe’s industry grows August 13, 2013 THE EUROZONE’S industry recorded its first annual growth in production since late 2011 yesterday, boosting optimism that the region may have exited recession in the second quarter. Industrial production rose by 0.3 per cent between June 2012 and June 2013, another positive signal to analysts, many of who now expect data released today to show [...]
UK exporters to shift towards new markets August 13, 2013 THE UK is expected to see a boost in exports to developing economies, with firms selling more goods to fast growing countries, while trade to Europe declines. Exports in goods to many emerging markets are forecast to flourish in the next five years, audit giant EY said yesterday. EY’s research predicts that trade in [...]
E.ON earnings fall 15pc due to Europe decline August 13, 2013 BIG SIX energy supplier E.ON yesterday blamed the European economic downturn for a 15 per cent decline in first-half earnings to €5.7bn (£4.9bn). The German company said that its fossil power generation business in Europe was suffering from low wholesale prices as a result of the financial downturn. The firm added that “interventionist energy policies [...]
Weak European demand hurts profits at chemist Synthomer August 13, 2013 BRITISH chemicals maker Synthomer’s pre-tax profit for the first half fell 10.3 per cent, hurt by weak demand in Europe, particularly from the construction industry. Shares in the company fell yesterday after the company said profit in the second half would be lower than the preceding half due to weak European market conditions. “The outlook [...]
British extended warranty firm sold to CVC Partners for £750m August 13, 2013 PRIVATE equity firm CVC Capital Partners yesterday bought Domestic & General (D&G), a provider of extended warranties, from rival Advent International in a deal thought to be worth around £750m. D&G offers breakdown cover on household appliances such as television and white goods and claims to have 15m customers producing sales of over £600m a year. Rather than [...]
Steel firm ThyssenKrupp suffers as sale of American arm drags on August 13, 2013 GERMANY’S ThyssenKrupp saw its finances weaken in the latest quarter as the indebted group struggled to find a buyer for its loss-making Steel Americas division. ThyssenKrupp has been trying for more than a year to find a buyer for the mills in Brazil and the US state of Alabama, which have caused losses and sapped [...]
US auditors told to include more detail in reports August 13, 2013 AMERICA’S accountancy watchdog has voted to bring in sweeping new rules on audits for listed companies. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, set up in the wake of the Enron scandal, said yesterday auditors should go beyond the current practice of giving just three boilerplate paragraphs of opinion alongside a pass or fail mark. The [...]
Facebook snaps up translation and voice recognition company August 13, 2013 FACEBOOK plans to buy the maker of a speech recognition and language translation app, providing technology that could bolster the social networking company’s mobile efforts. Facebook did not disclose the financial terms of its deal for Pittsburgh-based Mobile Technologies. Facebook’s management director Tom Stocky said in a blog post: “Voice technology has become an increasingly [...]
Mears soaring in spite of extra costs from Morrison purchase August 13, 2013 MEARS, the social housing support services group, yesterday unveiled a 15 per cent jump in first-half profits, despite spending £6.4m on restructuring costs after acquiring the Morrison social housing business. The firm’s adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £15.5m and revenues rose 49 per cent to £457.8m. The Morrison business boosted revenues by £128m over the [...]