Britvic profits fizz in spite of Ireland gloom May 20, 2009 SHARES in Tango-to-Robinsons beverage maker Britvic soared yesterday to their highest point in almost a year, after the firm posted a 16.3 per cent hike in half-year profits and said the UK soft drinks market had turned a corner. The group’s pre-tax profit before exceptionals rose to £20m for the six months to 12 April, [...]
Shaftesbury raises 149.1m May 20, 2009 PROPERTY firm Shaftesbury has launched a 2-for-3 rights issue to raise £149.1m to spruce up London’s fashionable Soho district. The real estate investment trust, which owns large swathes of the capital’s Chinatown and Covent Garden theatre district, plans to sell about 90.3m shares at 175p each, a discount of 53.1 per cent to the closing [...]
Japan’s GDP shrinks a record four per cent in first quarter as exports plunge May 20, 2009 JAPAN’S economy shrank a record four per cent in the first quarter as domestic demand and investment buckled, threatening to crush an anticipated export-led rebound in the second half. Any recovery depends on whether Japanese exporters, who have begun replenishing depleted inventory, see demand picking up in Western markets, and whether Tokyo’s $160bn (£102bn) stimulus [...]
Russian banks may need 10bn as bad loans mount up, says central banker May 20, 2009 RUSSIAN banks could need a minimum of £10bn in extra capital this year to offset the damage done by rocketing levels of bad loans, one of the country’s top central bankers said yesterday. Alexei Simanovsky, who heads the Russian central bank’s supervision department, said stress testing had shown that non-performing loans would force banks to [...]
Factory orders weaker than expected in May May 20, 2009 BRITISH manufacturing orders fell slightly more than expected in May but firms were more upbeat about the future than at any time since last September, a survey showed yesterday. The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) monthly Industrial Trends survey showed the factory orders balance ticked up to -56 this month from -57 in April. Analysts [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 20, 2009 G4SRBS analysts rate G4S as a “buy” following an update from the company, in which it provided in-depth reassurance about the sustainability of long-term growth. In the broker’s view, the combination of a clear strategy, the unique breadth of its presence in the security industry and the attractive valuation is compelling. ALLIANZAnalysts at Nomura downgraded [...]
ADVISERS May 20, 2009 LEADING the heavyweight team of advisers on the issue is property expert Alex Midgen of Rothschild, Shaftesbury’s main financial adviser. Rothschild has been advising the group for the past year, it said yesterday. Joint bookrunners are the well known pairing, JP Morgan Cazenove and Merrill Lynch. JP Morgan, which is corporate broker to 37 of [...]
Experian cuts successful as profits rocket May 20, 2009 EXPERIAN, the credit information group, yesterday cheered markets by unveiling a bumper 11 per cent jump in net profit to $486m (£313m), aided by an $80m cost cut drive. The Dublin-based firm upped its cost cutting targets by another $20m to $150m as it announced its results for the year to the end of March, [...]
Air France and Delta to merge May 20, 2009 AIR FRANCE-KLM, Europe’s biggest airline, yesterday announced it had finalised a deal with US airline Delta to operate as one airline over the Atlantic, boosting its share of the world’s busiest route to 25 per cent. The news came as the French carrier reported full-year losses of &1119;578m (£507m) yesterday, down from a profit of [...]
Future remains upbeat despite falling earnings May 20, 2009 HOBBY magazine publisher Future said yesterday that underlying profit was flat for the first half and that it was still on track to meet its full-year expectations, but pre-tax profit fell. The group’s earnings were flat at £4.6m, but were taken lower by exceptional items of £2.4m relating to a provision against slower payment times [...]
