Dell in $24.4bn buyout deal February 5, 2013 Dell founder Michael Dell and global technology investment firm Silver Lake are to take the computer maker private in a deal worth $24.4bn (£15.5bn). Under the agreement, Dell stakeholders will receive $13.65 in cash for each Dell share, representing a 25 per cent premium over Dell’s closing price of $10.88 on 11 January. The deal [...]
ARM tops FTSE 100 February 5, 2013 The leading share index shrugged off its losses yesterday to jump 0.5 per cent in early deals, helped by strong corporate earnings updates. Chip maker ARM Holdings topped the FTSE 100 leader board in early deals, rising almost 4.5 per cent. This morning it posted a better-than-expected 16 per cent rise in fourth-quarter pre-tax profit. [...]
Virgin Media confirms Liberty Global talks February 5, 2013 Virgin Media this morning confirmed it was in discussions with cable group Liberty Group over a possible deal. Virgin Media is the UK’s number two pay-TV operator after BSkyB. In a brief statement it confirmed it was in talks, but added that “any transaction would be subject to regulatory and other conditions”. Liberty Global, owned [...]
Full-year profit slumps at BP February 5, 2013 Oil giant BP posted a fall in full-year profits this morning, as it continued to count the cost of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. Full-year underlying replacement cost profit at the oil company fell to $17.6bn (£11.2bn), compared to $21.7bn over 2011. Profits for the fourth quarter came in above expectations though, at [...]
BG Group warns on 2015 production target February 5, 2013 Energy firm BG Group said this morning that it would not hit its 2015 production target of more than 1m barrels of oil equivalent a day. In November, shares in the FTSE 100 explorer plummeted as it warned that this year’s output would be flat, largely due to delays to projects. New chief executive Chris [...]
Barclays ups mis-selling provisions by £1bn February 5, 2013 Barclays said this morning it had increased its mis-selling provisions by £1bn to cover possible interest rate hedging products (IRHP) and payment protection insurance (PPI) claims. Following a pilot review, the bank has upped its provision for IRHP mis-selling claims by £400m. It has put a total of £850m aside so far for IRHP mis-selling, [...]
FTSE 100 weighed by financial shares February 4, 2013 The benchmark index edged down this morning, as Chancellor George Osborne’s plans to electrify the ring fence between banks’ retail and investment banking operations was in the spotlight. UK banking shares fell as a result. HSBC dropped 0.13 per cent, RBS was down 0.6 per cent, Barclays shed 0.07 per cent and Lloyds Banking Group [...]
Amplats swings to 2012 loss following strike February 4, 2013 Anglo American Platinum this morning posted an operating loss of ZAR6.3bn (£451m) for 2012, a drop of 180 per cent from a profit of almost ZAR8bn last year. Lower sales volumes due to the two-month long strike last year, higher mining costs and lower costs all weighed on results. Amplats, which is 80 per cent [...]
Lonrho forecasts full-year loss February 4, 2013 African conglomerate Lonrho said this morning it will post a net operating loss for the full year due to contract delays. The conglomerate, which has interests across agriculture, infrastructure, support services and hotels, said it expects to report a net operating loss of between £3m and £5m for 2012. “The shortfalls have largely reflected delays [...]
Hitachi slashes full-year operating profit forecast February 4, 2013 Japanese electronics maker Hitachi has cut its full-year profit forecast to 420bn yen (£2.8bn), hurt by a weak European economy and a slowdown in emerging markets. The firm today posted a 28 per cent fall in third quarter operating profits, coming in well below forecasts. Hitachi posted operating profit of 68.3bn yen for the three [...]
