HP axes 9,000 jobs in a $1bn restructuring June 1, 2010 HEWLETT-PACKARD (HP) said it aims to boost margins by cutting jobs and reallocating spending to more profitable technology services, shrinking its workforce by a net 3,000 jobs, or one per cent, over three years. The move, which will result in a $1bn charge, comes as rivals like IBM and Cisco Systems vie for supremacy in [...]
SSE rules itself out of EDF bid June 1, 2010 SCOTTISH & Southern Energy (SSE) yesterday backed down from seeking a major stake in the UK networks being sold by France’s EDF after ruling out raising equity to finance any bid. “We have always maintained a highly disciplined approach to acquisitions, investment and to financial management generally, and that will continue,” finance director Gregor Alexander [...]
Eurotunnel snaps up rail freight firm in £31m deal June 1, 2010 CHANNEL Tunnel operator Eurotunnel is buying Britain’s third-largest rail freight operator, GB Railfreight, from UK transport company FirstGroup for €26.3m (£21.9m) in cash, it said yesterday. The acquisition will be combined with Eurotunnel’s Europorte unit, which it bought from Veolia last year. FirstGroup earlier confirmed it was selling its rail freight business to Europorte, for [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 1, 2010 Hermes The asset manager has appointed Chris Goudie as an executive director for global business development and chief executive of Hermes Fund Managers in North America. Goudie joins from Pyramis Global Advisers, the fund management firm he helped to establish for Fidelity. Hermes has also hired Heiko Dahse, pictured, and Marcus Money-Chappelle from Fischer Francis [...]
LAPPING OF LUXURY June 1, 2010 SUNSEEKER, the company whose yachts have been used to epitomise the ultimate luxury lifestyle in the James Bond films, yesterday secured a new investor in the form of boutique firm FL Partners. FL, which owns the Racing Post newspaper, said it had provided £25m of new capital to Sunseeker and refinanced its current debt facilities [...]
M&G loans £100m to Stobart June 1, 2010 M&G Investments yesterday said it had arranged for its UK companies financing fund to extend a 10-year £100m loan to logistics firm Stobart Group. The loan will be used to pay down Stobart’s existing bank debt and to fund further investment, including developing Southend Airport, which was granted consent for a runway extension in March. [...]
EADS loses out on euro weakness June 1, 2010 Aerospace group EADS’s hedging programmes will prevent the company from taking advantage of the weaker euro over the next two years, chief executive Louis Gallois told shareholders yesterday. Gallois noted a hedging programme would mute currency impacts for 2010, 2011 and at least part of 2012 but said the stronger dollar “will certainly improve profitability [...]
Capita buys Premier Medical June 1, 2010 Capita Group has acquired medical reporting and screening specialist, Premier Medical, for £60m on a cash-free, debt-free basis. According to the outsourcing giant, the move adds “depth and breadth of expertise” to its existing services for the health market, which include running the NHS Choices programme and the health informatics firm, CHKS.
MICHAEL O’LEARY STEPS UP ATTACK ON ‘PERMA-TANNED’ UNION LEADER June 1, 2010 RYANAIR’S Michael O’Leary isn’t known as a man his rivals could turn to in a jam, but it appears leopards really can change their spots. Just a few weeks ago, O’Leary lashed out at the Unite union, which is representing British Airways cabin crew in a series of damaging strikes, labelling them a “bunch of [...]
Shopping around is the future of law June 1, 2010 COMMENTATORS talk excitedly about “Tesco Law” and the ongoing liberalisation of legal services as though it were a latter day gold rush led by big name supermarkets and banks. But what is it that consumers want? New research suggests that there is little enthusiasm on the part of the public to associate legal services with [...]
