Blockbusters boost Cineworld January 5, 2012 Movie giants such as The King’s Speech, the latest Harry Potter instalment and Twilight helped UK cinema chain Cineworld post a revenue increase of 1.5 per cent last year. While suffering sales of 3D glasses and a fall in screen advertising will bring other income down, Cineworld is looking at a rise of 2.7 per [...]
Nokia eyes a new chairman January 5, 2012 Finnish mobile phone company Nokia is said to have its eyes on Risto Siilasmaa to succeed its current chairman Jorma Ollila. Siilasmaa, who has sat on Nokia’s board since 2008, is the founder and chairman of Finnish software maker Secure and chairman of telecoms firm Elisa Oyj. The decision is awaiting confirmation from the board [...]
Fiat drives towards Chrysler January 5, 2012 Italian car maker Fiat is one step closer to merging with Chrysler after it raised its stake in the struggling automotive group from 53.5 per cent to 58.5 per cent, paying approximately $2bn (£1.29bn). Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in 2009, leading President Obama to instigate a turnaround plan between the two companies. Healthcare trust VEBA [...]
Tata could move plants to India January 5, 2012 Ratan Tata, the retiring head of the Tata conglomerate, said his firm could move some of its car production to India or China. He told a conference that Tata Motors, which makes Range Rovers and Jaguars in the UK, could at some stage shift its manufacturing to capitalise on a growth spurt in emerging markets. [...]
Three bosses at Cove in line for a windfall January 5, 2012 A TRIO of top executives at Cove Energy are in line to share a pot of tens of millions of dollars after the company was officially put up for sale yesterday. Chief executive John Craven and executive chairman Michael Blaha will share most of the payout. Michael Nolan, Cove’s finance director, will pocket the rest. [...]
Balfour Beatty bags £750m deal January 5, 2012 Building group Balfour Beatty yesterday clinched a five-year contract worth up to £750m to upgrade Britain’s electricity transmission network. The work involves maintaining and refurbishing overhead transmission lines, as well as designing and implementing National Grid’s network upgrade plans. The company has an existing contract to carry out some work for the National Grid. This [...]
Costain ends year on track January 5, 2012 Costain said yesterday that it finished the year strongly and has an order book worth £2.5bn. The civil engineering group said it had targeted major public and private sector customers and secured significant new contracts during the year, including the London Bridge Station redevelopment for Network Rail and Crossrail Paddington Station. The company increased its [...]
Petrofac in Schlumberger tie-up January 5, 2012 British energy services firm Petrofac said yesterday it will team up with Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services company, to help it bid for bigger projects with national oil companies and other firms. The pair have signed a co-operation agreement which will let them work together on projects to help resource holders such as national [...]
JJB enjoys an uplift in sales for Christmas January 5, 2012 SPORTS retailer JJB, which was on the verge of collapse last year, has battled its way through the crucial Christmas period, reporting a five per cent lift in like-for-like sales in December. JJB’s second-half like-for-like sales fell by 7.8 per cent while margins fell by 3.2 per cent, it said yesterday. But this was still [...]
US retailers slash prices to lure festive bargain-hunters January 5, 2012 MANY US store chains had to offer deep discounts to entice shoppers over the holiday selling season, cutting into profits even as overall December sales came in slightly above expectations. JC Penney yesterday cut its quarterly profit forecast, citing “higher markdown activity”, and its shares fell 2.7 per cent. Kohl’s also cut its holiday-quarter profit [...]