BAE hit by AGM job loss protest as sales stutter May 2, 2012 BAE SYSTEMS yesterday said its sales growth was stalling while its directors faced protests over job cuts at the company’s annual general meeting. Shareholders of the FTSE 100 company were lobbied by hundreds of protesters angry at plans for more than 800 job cuts at the company’s site in Brough, Yorkshire. A group of workers [...]
BAFTA’S PICCADILLY HEADQUARTERS FOR SALE May 2, 2012 BAFTA’S landmark headquarters on Piccadilly are to be put up for sale for £76m. Aviva Investors Property Trust has instructed property consultancy Knight Frank to sell the 81,000 square foot building known as Princes House, which is also home to the Princes Arcade, the Tramp nightclub, a screening room, casino and three-storey town house.
BG and Repsol in Bolivia advance May 2, 2012 ■ British energy company BG Group said yesterday it and Spanish partner Repsol had started production from the first phase of their Margarita gas field in Bolivia, yielding the companies net production of around 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) each. Gas producer BG said it was working on a second phase that [...]
Kewill to be sold to FPF for £89.5m May 2, 2012 ■ Kewill said yesterday it had agreed to be taken private by tech-focused private equity firm Francisco Partners Funds (FPF) in a deal that values the British software company at £89.5m. Kewill shareholders would get 96 pence per share, a 26 per cent premium to the stock’s close on Tuesday. Kewill, which provides software to [...]
Premier Gold drops after placing May 2, 2012 ■ Premier Gold yesterday suffered a 14 per cent plunge in its share price after it announced a £350,000 placing. It said the fresh funds will be used to advance exploration work at the cholokkaindy gold project in Kyrgyzstan. The placing was of 70m new ordinary shares at 0.5 pence each with institutional investors the [...]
Sluggish BRIC manufacturing production hits world outlook May 2, 2012 WEAK manufacturing output across the leading emerging markets in April has dented hopes of a healthy global recovery, studies revealed yesterday. Factory activity deteriorated in China and Brazil, Markit’s purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) showed, although more solid growth was recorded in India and Russia. Weak demand dragged down both output and new orders in Brazil [...]
Business lending data points to a continued squeeze on credit May 2, 2012 BANK lending to businesses dropped again in March, official data showed yesterday, raising further criticism that the government is failing in its stated aim to improve credit conditions. Borrowing by firms fell £3.2bn in the month, the Bank of England revealed, following drops of £4.2bn in February and £3.6bn in January. That means bank lending [...]
Strong building output raises growth hopes May 2, 2012 INCREASING orders and rising optimism pushed up activity in the construction sector in April, survey data showed yesterday, countering fears that the sector is dragging down the economy as a whole. Markit’s purchasing managers’ index came in at 55.8, slightly down on March’s 21-month high of 56.7, but still indicating solid growth above the “no [...]
Fears for US as factory orders and jobs slow May 2, 2012 A SLUMP in factory orders and a smaller than expected rise in private sector employment yesterday knocked hopes for a stronger US economic recovery. New orders for US factory goods in March recorded their biggest decline in three years as demand for transportation equipment and a range of other goods slumped, Commerce Department figures showed. [...]
FED OFFICIAL CALLS FOR SHADOW BANK RULES May 2, 2012 US REGULATORS should take steps to strengthen government oversight of money market funds and short-term bank funding markets so that the “shadow” banking system can be better policed, said Fed governor Daniel Tarullo yesterday.
