Minerva bullish on recovering demand for prime properties November 12, 2009 PROPERTY developer Minerva said yesterday increased demand for quality property would hold it in good stead – but failed to update the market on lettings at its two City developments. The interim statement coincided with property advisor Drivers Jonas’s London Crane Survey, which crowned Minerva as the developer with the most speculatively developed space under [...]
WestLB profit to disappoint November 12, 2009 GERMAN state-backed bank WestLB expects earnings in the fourth quarter of 2009 to be below average, mainly because of the cost of restructuring to hive off assets into an €85bn (£76.2bn) “bad bank”. In an update ahead of its fourth quarter results, the bank said all the decisions on splitting the bank into a core [...]
MILKING IT November 12, 2009 DAIRY Crest said half-year pre-tax profits jumped 20 per cent to £34m, up from £28.4m a year earlier. Revenue dipped one per cent to £803.7m, while sales of key brands, including Country Life, rose 10 per cent.
SFO drops prosecution of biotech millionaire Sir Christopher Evans November 12, 2009 BIOTECH millionaire Sir Christopher Evans will not be prosecuted for alleged fraud after a four-year probe into his venture capital firm Merlin Biosciences was dropped. The Serious Fraud Office has been investigating Evans over claims from a former employee that he had paid between £1m and £2.5m into a shell company of unknown ownership. But [...]
Trinity Mirror sees signs of stabilisation November 12, 2009 NEWSPAPER group Trinity Mirror said yesterday that it has seen a slowdown in the rate of revenue declines, and that it was confident of meeting expectations for 2009. The publisher of the Daily Mirror and a host of other national and regional titles said underlying advertising revenue had fallen 20 per cent in the first [...]
Resolution’s hunt for deals gathers pace November 12, 2009 RESOLUTION, the insurance-focused takeover vehicle owned by entrepreneur Clive Cowdery, says it is still hungry for acquisitions, boosting shares in possible target Legal & General. Resolution reiterated its aim to buy two more major insurers within 15 months following its takeover of Friends Provident, saying upcoming regulatory changes made consolidation “both desirable and inevitable” in [...]
BT sees slide in profits but lifts cost cuts November 12, 2009 BT GROUP yesterday reported a 45 per cent drop in first-half profits, but upped its full-year guidance and said it had seen improvements at its troubled Global Services (GS) division. The telecoms giants said that cost cutting measures had enabled it to report a two per cent increase in second-quarter earnings to £1.43bn, and free [...]
SFO launches probe into Dynamic hedge fund November 12, 2009 THE Serious Fraud Office has launched a criminal investigation into Dynamic Decisions Capital Management, a Mayfair-based hedge fund. Dynamic Decisions’ flagship Growth Premium Master fund went into liquidation in May amid claims its net asset value had plummeted from $550m (£332.9m) to $20m. The SFO said it was looking into the investment activities of the [...]
Maersk expects $1bn loss after freight rates dip November 12, 2009 DANISH shipping and oil group AP Moller-Maersk yesterday reported a deeper-than-forecast net loss for the first nine months of the year, hit by a global slump in freight, and said it would lose $1bn (£603m) in 2009. The full-year 2009 outlook, unchanged from three months ago, points Maersk — the world’s biggest container shipping line [...]
3i tumbles as asset value disappoints November 12, 2009 PRIVATE equity giant 3i marched back into first half profit yesterday but saw its shares drift downwards as its net asset value undershot expectations. Britain’s oldest buyout firm, which invests in companies as diverse as Interflora and Ministry of Sound, said the underlying value of its portfolio rose 2.5 per cent between April and September, [...]
