Glaxo ups stake in Theravance on drug success April 2, 2012 GLAXOSMITHKLINE bet another $212.9m (£133m) on the success of lung drug Relovair yesterday by raising its stake in US biotech firm Theravance – its partner on the new medicine – to 26.8 per cent. Britain’s biggest drugmaker has been working with Theravance for 10 years to develop Relovair, an inhaled therapy combining two ingredients, which [...]
Petroplus gets first offers for German plant April 2, 2012 SEVERAL interested parties have submitted offers for insolvent refiner Petroplus’ Ingolstadt plant in Germany, a spokesman for the refinery’s administrator said yesterday. “We’ve received non-binding offers and are now organising plant visits,” said the spokesman for administrator Jaffe Rechtsanwaelte Insolvenzverwalter. “We hope to be able to conclude negotiations in the second quarter,” he added. The [...]
PROFITS DIP AT WORLD’S BIGGEST CHOCOLATIER April 2, 2012 BARRY Callebaut, the world’s largest maker of chocolate products, warned yesterday that markets in Western Europe and North America remained fragile as it reported a slight dip in first-half profits, down 11.3 per cent in local currencies to SFr121.8m (£84m). The company makes chocolate for retailers including Nestle, Hershey, and Kraft.
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS April 2, 2012 Marsh The global insurance broking and risk management firm, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has announced the appointment of Edwin Charnaud as chairman of its global infrastructure practice. Reporting to chairman, global industries Jim Pierce, he will continue to be based in London. Charnaud will retain his current responsibilities as leader of Marsh’s [...]
BEST of the BROKERS April 2, 2012 TALKTALK Credit Suisse rates the telecoms group “outperform” with a target price of 166p. The broker believes TalkTalk’s new TV platform YouView, to be launched this spring, could add 36p per share to its discounted cash flow. RANDGOLD Nomura has a “neutral” rating on the miner and has knocked its target price from £71.15 to [...]
FTSE posts big rise as US and China manufacturing data ease concerns April 2, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index posted its biggest daily rise in two months yesterday, up nearly two per cent as manufacturing data from the world’s biggest economies eased concerns over sluggish growth, offsetting uncertainty in Europe. Rising shares of mining companies also helped. London’s blue chip index climbed 106.44 points, or 1.9 per cent to 5,874.89. [...]
S&P starts the quarter on a four-year high April 2, 2012 US stocks started the second quarter with a bang yesterday, with the S&P 500 climbing to a fresh four-year high as manufacturing data from the United States and China helped support the outlook for economic growth. A string of mixed indicators in recent days slowed the stock market’s advance, as investors took the figures as [...]
Pensioners are still winning out in Britain’s battle of the generations April 2, 2012 WHEN in 1965 The Who sang “Hope I die before I get old,” it articulated the sentiment of a generation. However, the boomers – those born in the immediate aftermath of World War II – did not die: They lived long and lived well, enjoying historically unprecedented increases in living standards. David Willetts, the current [...]
Petrol shortages show that, for once, fuel prices were too low last week April 2, 2012 LAST weekend, before my pregnant wife drove to Devon with our young daughter, I wanted to fill up the car with petrol. Unfortunately, the filling stations near to our house either had lengthy queues spilling onto the road or had run out completely. I also know a local taxi driver who was unable to fill [...]
The EC is now run by City-sceptics: An insider’s view April 2, 2012 THE European Parliament can be a frustrating place to work. When I and some of my fellow MEPs met Commission officials last week to discuss the technical details they had drafted as required by the alternative investment fund managers directive (AIFMD), it was clear the Commission had not taken on board the concerns that I [...]
