Hays boosted by Germany but UK banking market still weak April 12, 2012 SHARES in recruitment firm Hays climbed as much as 11 per cent yesterday after it posted steady growth in global net fee income, despite a drop in profits at its UK business. CEO Alistair Cox said the UK had been hit by weakness in banking and the private sector, leading to a decline in domestic [...]
Ryanair blames airport fees for Edinburgh cuts April 12, 2012 RYANAIR yesterday cut 60 weekly flights from Edinburgh Airport in a bid to force operator BAA to lower its fees. The low-cost carrier warned that its move to axe eight routes from its winter schedule could cost up to 500 jobs at the airport. Ryanair blamed BAA’s “uncompetitive” fees, and said its annual passenger traffic [...]
Melrose execs sell on shares after windfall April 12, 2012 DIRECTORS at manufacturing buyout firm Melrose sold shares worth nearly £69m yesterday in order to raise cash to pay tax on their long-term incentive awards. Stock amounting to four per cent of the firm’s total share capital was placed with institutional investors through an accelerated bookbuild managed by Investec. Directors were given stock worth £126m [...]
ADVISERS INVESTEC April 12, 2012 KEITH Anderson and Chris Baird of Investec advised Melrose on yesterday’s secondary share placing. Anderson is co-head of corporate broking at Investec and has advised a range of top clients on their finances. He and Baird were recently appointed as a broker to Halma, a FTSE 250 UK technology provider, having advised the firm in [...]
Swatch snaps up watch case firm April 12, 2012 Swatch Group is buying high-end watch case maker Simon Et Membrez for an undisclosed sum, the group announced yesterday, in a deal that will improve its own production division. Simon Et Membrez, with 250 employees, will continue to trade under its name and will also carry on supplying third parties. The deal also includes a [...]
Online shoppers boost UK Mail April 12, 2012 UK Mail Group’s performance in the fourth quarter was in line with its expectations, the group said yesterday. Driven by increased online shopping, UK Mail reported a volume growth of 10 per cent. Its reported revenues for the quarter increased by 14 per cent, compared to the previous year. Total revenue growth for the year [...]
Price cuts hurt Carrefour’s sales April 12, 2012 Europe’s biggest retailer, Carrefour, reported lower first quarter sales than analysts had expected yesterday. First quarter sales were €22.5bn (£18.6bn). Sales fell 2.1 per cent, not including fuel, currency and calendar effects, while French hypermarket sales dropped 5.8 per cent. It said that its recently implemented ‘Reset’ plan for French hypermarkets had also hurt sales, [...]
Petropavlovsk sees 60pc rise in its gold haul April 12, 2012 RUSSIA-FOCUSED gold miner Petropavlovsk said gold production in the first quarter of 2012 rose 60 per cent on the same period a year ago, boosted by higher grades of the precious metal extracted from its Pioneer mine in Russia’s Far East. The company said it produced 120,800 ounces and is on track to produce its [...]
Churchill Mining seeks $2bn in coal dispute with Indonesians April 12, 2012 CHURCHILL Mining is heading to an international court of arbitration in May to fight for $2bn (£1.25bn) compensation in a dispute over an Indonesian mine that has one of the world’s biggest undeveloped coal reserves. Last week, Indonesia’s supreme court moved to reject an appeal by Churchill Mining which has been fighting Indonesia’s Nusantara Group [...]
Roche sales remain flat as Illumina bid battle rages April 12, 2012 SWISS drugmaker Roche dangled the prospect of a higher offer before reluctant US bid target Illumina yesterday along with broadly flat first-quarter sales supported by its top-selling cancer drugs. Genetics specialist Illumina has rejected Roche’s $6.7bn sweetened takeover offer and has also urged investors to vote against Roche’s bid to get its own nominees on [...]
