Danone to cut 900 jobs in EU February 19, 2013 DANONE said yesterday it plans to axe around 900 jobs to cope with the downturn in southern Europe that is hurting its core dairy business and aims to return to more profitable growth next year. Danone yesterday reported sales of €20.1bn (£17.3bn) in 2012, up 5.4 per cent from a year earlier. It warned margins [...]
New York Report: M&A activity lift shares near record levels February 19, 2013 US STOCKS rose yesterday as this year’s ongoing surge in merger activity suggested investors were still finding value in the market even as indexes closed in on all-time highs. Office Depot Inc surged 9.4 per cent to $5.02 after a person familiar with the matter said the number two US office supply retailer was in [...]
Construction output heads to record low February 19, 2013 EUROZONE construction output sank further in December, putting it at the lowest level since early 1996, excluding two apparent blips. Eurostat’s construction output index fell 1.7 per cent to reach 80.1 in December, which is the lowest since February 1996, excepting two one-off sharp drops last February and in December 2010. Over the whole year, [...]
TSYS to snap up NetSpend February 19, 2013 AMERICAN payment processor TSYS said last night it will buy prepaid debit card provider NetSpend Holdings for about $1.4bn (£907.4m) in cash to expand its presence in the prepaid processing market. TSYS offered to pay $16 per share for NetSpend – a premium of 30 per cent to the stock’s closing price yesterday. NetSpend shares [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 February 2013 February 19, 2013 STANDARD CHARTERED Shares in the bank rose 2.3 per cent as analysts at Morgan Stanley upgraded it from “equal weight” to “overweight” and upped its target price from 1656p to 1924p. Morgan Stanley said it was “switching our preference from HSBC to Standard Chartered due to the improvement in the Asian economic environment (a positive [...]
Worst January since 1990 for EU carmakers February 19, 2013 NEW CAR registrations in the EU collapsed to their lowest January level since 1990 last month, dealing the union’s carmakers a drubbing. Peugeot Citroen, Ford, Fiat, Toyota, Volvo, Suzuki and Mitsubishi suffered double digit falls in sales between already-poor January 2012 and January 2013, figures revealed yesterday, as Europe’s economic troubles clobbered one of its [...]
BP wins spill fine argument as it gears up for court case February 19, 2013 OIL GIANT BP last night clinched a $3.4bn (£2.2bn) reduction in the potential fine it faces under the US Clear Water Act for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The FTSE 100 firm, which is preparing to defend itself at next week’s court fight against the US government, has agreed with the US Department of [...]
London Report: German data helps FTSE hit five-year high February 19, 2013 BLUE chip index posted its highest close in five years yesterday in a broad-based surge across all major sectors, as a strong German business sentiment survey supported a favourable technical picture. The FTSE 100 extended gains in afternoon trade after a ZEW survey showed that German investor and analyst sentiment soared to its highest level [...]
Voda hires UBS and Goldman for cable deal February 19, 2013 VODAFONE has appointed banks to advise on its proposed acquisition of German cable operator Kabel Deutschland, with Goldman Sachs and UBS to work on the deal, sources close to discussions have said. The British telecoms giant is considering a takeover of the German firm, which would strengthen its presence in one of its biggest markets. [...]
IHG unveils rise in profits led by US growth February 19, 2013 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group reported an 11 per cent jump in full-year operating profits yesterday, driven by a strong performance in the US and its expansion in developing markets. The owner of the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inns and InterContinental brands made an operating profit of $614m (£387m) in 2012, while revenue rose five per cent to [...]