YouView sued by Yorkshire telecoms group in trademark name dispute November 26, 2012 YOUVIEW, the internet-connected set top TV box company backed by BT and the BBC, has been sued in the High Court for trademark infringement, and may have to face a hefty payout or change its name. The lawsuit, from Yorkshire-based telecoms firm Total, comes after YouView lost an appeal to have its name trademarked. Two [...]
Quintain pushes forward in Greenwich as asset values fall November 26, 2012 QUINTAIN moved a step closer to realising its giant Greenwich Peninsula scheme after announcing yesterday it has submitted plans for the first 500 homes on the site. The developer secured a £300m investment in June from Hong Kong billionaire Henry Cheng, helping to kick-start the 150-acre project, which will see 10,000 homes built on the [...]
International Greetings on track November 26, 2012 International Greetings, the maker of wrapping paper, cards and children’s party bags, said sales and underlying profits for the six months to 30 September were on track to meet City expectations, boosted by strong growth in the US. The UK-listed group is gearing up for the festive season and has made over 65m Christmas crackers [...]
McGraw-Hill sells textbook arm November 26, 2012 US financial services and publishing firm McGraw-Hill said yesterday it will sell its educational publishing unit to buyout firm Apollo Global for $2.5bn (£1.6bn), ending talk of the business being spun off as a public company. The sale completes a shift for the 124-year-old firm, which has published educational textbooks for nearly a century. As [...]
Samsung finds labour failures November 26, 2012 Korean electronics giant Samsung said yesterday it had found evidence of “several instances of inadequate practices” at its suppliers in China. An internal audit of working practices at 105 Chinese suppliers found repeated examples of excessive working hours and incorrect contracts. The company, which is now investigating further factories, said it would remedy the failures. [...]
Glaxo heats up move towards drinks markets November 26, 2012 BRITAIN’S largest pharma company is hoping to spend over half a billion pounds expanding into consumer markets in India and Nigeria, where it earns significant revenue from the highly popular Horlicks drink. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) announced yesterday a £591m offer to boost its stake in its Consumer Healthcare subsidiary in India, along with a £62m bid [...]
Profit warning knocks £30m off troubled software company SDL November 26, 2012 TRANSLATION software company SDL saw more than £30m wiped off its value yesterday after posting a surprise profit warning. When chief executive John Hunter was shown the door earlier this month, interim boss Mark Lancaster conducted an internal review of the business. Yesterday the company revealed that it expected profits £3m-£4m – up to 10 [...]
Cranswick profits jump as pig prices passed on to customers November 26, 2012 CRANSWICK, the sliced meat and sausage-maker, yesterday reported a 21 per cent rise in half-year profits as it succeeded in passing higher pork prices onto its customer. The Yorkshire-based group warned last month that UK prices were at a three-month high and would continue rising because of high livestock feed prices and the introduction of [...]
Stobart pulls its retail bond November 26, 2012 STOBART Group has shelved plans to enter the retail bond market, though its board has not ruled out an offering in future. The company said it decided not to proceed following the entry of larger bond issuers at higher coupon pricing. Stobart chief financial officer Ben Whawell said: “We will keep under review the possibility [...]
Pinsent grows turnover 4pc November 26, 2012 LAW firm Pinsent Masons yesterday announced a half-year turnover figure of £146m, a four per cent increase on the same period last year. Pinsents, which earlier this year secured a tie-up with Scottish firm McGrigors, also said it had hired corporate finance specialist Jonathan Beastall from rival Clifford Chance. Stripping out revenues from McGrigors, the [...]