F&C adds £3m more cuts as optimism rises August 1, 2012 F&C ASSET Management said yesterday it would increase its radical cost cutting regime by a further £3m as interim results hinted management was starting to turn the business around. The asset manager, which has seen its share price rise around 20 per cent since June, said it would increase its cost cutting target to £48.8m, [...]
Baring Asset Management snaps up Korean asset firm August 1, 2012 LONDON-based asset manager Baring Asset Management is set to buy SEI Asset Korea (SEIAK) in a deal that will boost the 250 year-old firm’s assets under management by $6.3bn (£4bn). The firm, which this year celebrates the anniversary of its founding in 1762, said the acquisition will boost its presence in Asia as South Korea [...]
Shares in Shire rise as it calms generics fears August 1, 2012 SHIRE said yesterday that cheap, copycat competition would have only a limited impact on sales of its hyperactivity drugs in the key back-to-school period, reassuring investors that earnings would still rise by a double-digit percentage this year. Shares in the pharmaceutical company, which fell as much as 13 per cent in June when US regulators [...]
Ad firms cash in on Aegis deal August 1, 2012 ADVERTISING giant Aegis snapped up two London digital ad firms yesterday, netting their owners an estimated £25m. Search ad firm I Spy Marketing and analysis group Data2Decisions were bought for around £15m and £10m, and will be integrated into Aegis’s subsidiary iProspect, which deals with adverts on Google and other search engines. I Spy’s chief [...]
Boost from beverage cans helps Rexam offset healthcare woes August 1, 2012 REXAM, which makes packaging for everything from fizzy drinks cans to lipstick containers, reported a slight rise in first half profit after its beverage cans business helped to offset a weak performance at its healthcare arm. The company, which makes about 57bn cans a year for brands like Red Bull and Carlsberg, said pre-tax profits [...]
Jump in Taylor Wimpey profit August 1, 2012 TAYLOR WIMPEY yesterday revealed it had doubled its profits in the first half of the year after the company shrugged off wider economic concerns and constraints in mortgage lending. The housebuilder posted operating profits of £100.9m for the six months to 6 July up from £67.2m last year on revenues up to £906.2m from £817.8m. [...]
Revenue miss for MasterCard August 1, 2012 SHARES in MasterCard fell yesterday as the US card provider said global purchasing growth had slowed to its lowest pace in more than a year. The firm reported a 15 per cent jump in net income for the three months to the end of June, while revenues rose nine per cent to $1.82bn (£1.17bn), missing [...]
ICE credits rule changes for lift August 1, 2012 INTERCONTINENTAL Exchange yesterday credited the swathe of new financial rules for its 18 per cent jump in net income to $143m. Revenues rose eight per cent to $351m (£225m), in part thanks to its work helping clients “comply with new requirements under financial reform”. A strong showing for ICE’s energy futures market helped cushion a [...]
Mayor-raising fault on zipline dismount August 1, 2012 WAS it a bird? No, not nearly elegant enough. Was it a plane? Hopefully not, given its speedy path towards Victoria Park. And Superman would never sport a blue hard hat and Union flags. Boris Johnson’s ungainly descent down a zipwire in east London became an online sensation yesterday when he came to a halt [...]
Gold medallists are first class August 1, 2012 GOLD medallist cyclist Bradley Wiggins and rowing winners Helen Glover and Heather Stanning really are first class – with the Royal Mail stamps to prove it. The triumphant Team GB athletes’ wins are being celebrated with two special edition stamps. Royal Mail, which is producing the stamps within a day, will also paint a mailbox [...]