Rexam plans personal care business sale February 22, 2012 EUROPE’S largest drinks can maker Rexam put its underperforming personal care business up for sale yesterday and said it would look to return cash to shareholders, sending its shares to their highest level in nearly four years. The British firm, which also reported full-year profits largely in line with expectations yesterday, said strength in its [...]
Rudd quits Australian government in PM bid February 22, 2012 AUSTRALIA’S top job could be about to change hands, after foreign minister and one-time leader Kevin Rudd quit his government post yesterday, saying he could no longer work with current Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Gillard last night said her Labor Party will hold a vote on Monday to decide its leadership – though Rudd has [...]
Heathrow slims losses at BAA February 22, 2012 HEATHROW airport passenger numbers rose five per cent to a record 69.4m last year, helping BAA to narrow its losses. The airport operator made a loss of £255.8m in the year to 31 December, compared with £316.6m the year before. The firm’s revenues rose 10 per cent on last year to £2.28bn, the firm said [...]
Hays boosts income as UK lags behind on fees February 22, 2012 SHARES in recruiter Hays got an eight per cent lift yesterday after it said its global net fee income had risen 11 per cent, despite a decline in its UK operations. Net fees grew by 11 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the six months to 31 December compared to same period in 2010, [...]
Rothschild-backed renewable energy group Tamar planning to raise £65m February 22, 2012 FINANCIER Jacob Rothschild’s London-listed RIT Capital Partners, Sainsbury and the Duchy of Cornwall are among a group of investors who plan to invest more than £65m in a clean technology start-up focused on producing energy from organic waste matter. The new company, Tamar Energy, will develop a network of around 44 anaerobic digestion plants to [...]
France Telecom dividend slashed on earnings drop February 22, 2012 FRANCE Telecom, the parent body of Orange UK, cut dividends for the next two years by almost 15 per cent as it continues to lose customers to low-cost rival Free Mobile. Full year net income attributable to equity owners dropped 20 per cent to €3.9bn as the group struggled in the face of Europe’s economic [...]
Aegis buys US digital agency February 22, 2012 Aegis Group is speeding towards its twin targets of US expansion and digital media growth by agreeing to acquire Roundarch, the American digital agency, for a maximum consideration of $360m (£229.6m) in cash. The British communications company will pay an initial $125m for its new addition, but is more likely to fork out nearer $250m [...]
LightSquared cuts staff in half February 22, 2012 LightSquared plans to axe half of its employees to save money after the US wireless network defaulted on its $56m rental fee to Inmarsat last weekend. The company hit a blockade last week when US communications regulator the FCC revoked permission for LightSquared to move ahead with its wireless network, which was found to be [...]
Alibaba stocks soar on delist plan February 22, 2012 Shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.com soared yesterday after the website’s parent, Alibaba Group, bid up to HK$19.6bn (£1.6bn) yesterday to buy out minority shareholders and delist the business. Alibaba Group, led by Jack Ma, offered a 46 per cent premium of HK$13.50 a share for the 27 per cent it does not already own, [...]
Micro Focus says trading on track February 22, 2012 Micro Focus has said its trading was in line with expectations in the latest quarter. The FTSE 250 firm ended the period with a net debt position of $156m (£99.5m), compared to $47.6m at the end of October, the firm said in a statement yesterday.
