JCB charges ahead with ‘historic’ electric digger August 20, 2019 JCB marked an “historic moment” in digger manufacturing today, as its new electric version of the iconic yellow digger rolled off the production line. The firm is moving into full production with the construction industry’s first fully electric mini excavator, with 50 machines already having gone out to customers around the world. Read more: JCB [...]
Manufacturers’ pains soften despite ‘Brexit millstone’ hampering firms August 20, 2019 Britain’s manufacturing headaches softened slightly over the last three months, with output stabilising despite “relentless Brexit uncertainty” continuing to weigh heavy on the industry. Manufacturers reported output fell less sharply over the three months to August, according to the CBI’s monthly industrial trends survey, meaning the industry is still in decline but the rate of [...]
Automotive supplier SGL shares drop a third as chief quits on profit warning August 15, 2019 SGL Carbon, a major supplier to Germany’s car industry, has suffered a double blow as its chief executive threw in the towel over flawed business planning on the same day as a profit warning. Chief executive Juergen Koehler will step down at the end of August, he announced, as the company said it expected adjusted [...]
Lion Air ‘urgently’ needs more Boeing 737 Max jets to support growth August 14, 2019 Indonesian airline Lion Air “urgently requires” more Boeing 737 Max jets, after two crashes involving the model – one of which was a Lion Air jet – left the entire global fleet grounded in March. The airline’s co-founder, Rusdi Kirana, told Reuters that once regulators allowed the plane back in the skies, it needed more [...]
Rolls-Royce: Engine issues still in focus after ‘storm of steel and iron’ falls from plane August 14, 2019 On a sunny, 30C-degree afternoon in Fiumicino, near Rome, residents of the airport town thought they were experiencing a sudden hail storm. But when witness Paola Di Lazzaro looked outside, she saw “a storm of steel and iron,” she told Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. Hundreds of shards of incandescent metal were falling down to earth [...]
Rolls-Royce shares drop after ‘hailstorm’ of jet engine fragments cause chaos in Rome August 12, 2019 A “storm of steel and iron” raining down on people in a busy suburb of Rome over the weekend sent engine maker Rolls-Royce’s market value tumbling more than half-a-billion pounds today. Romans were forced to take cover on Saturday as hot fragments of metal fell from a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet flying over the Fiumicino [...]
Tata Steel loses £1m a day in Port Talbot as burden grows on troubled industry August 11, 2019 Tata Steel haemorrhaged £371.6m in the UK last year from the country’s largest steelworks, in another stark reminder of the struggles facing Britain’s heavy manufacturing sector. The loss, which amounts to more than £1m per day for the year ending 31 March, was due to lower production volumes, according the the Indian-owned company’s annual accounts. [...]
Scrapped: Guy Hands ‘pulls out of takeover plans’ for German Cartonplast August 8, 2019 Private equity magnate Guy Hands is said to have abandoned takeover plans for a European packaging business. His firm, Terra Firma Capital Partners, has withdrawn from negotiations to buy German packaging company Cartonplast, according to Sky News. The withdrawal raises questions about the ability of one of the most prominent British financiers to land fresh [...]
British Steel preferred buyer will be decided in coming days August 8, 2019 Business secretary Andrea Leadsom is poised to announce the government’s entrance into exclusive talks with its preferred buyer of stricken industrial firm British Steel. Leadsom held a conference call with the three potential buyers still in the race earlier today, telling them one would be chosen in the coming days. Read more: British Steel’s collapse [...]
Thyssenkrupp issues another profit warning amid manufacturing slump August 8, 2019 Thyssenkrupp, the German steel making giant, today gave its fourth profit warning under chief executive Guido Kerkhoff, who faces mounting pressure to turn the company around. The firm announced it expects to make around €800m (£738m) profit this year, a significant downgrade on its previous forecast for a figure between €1.1bn and €1.2bn. Read more: [...]