Balfour Beatty names broadcast boss Lord Allen as new chair May 13, 2021 Infrastructure firm Balfour Beatty this morning announced that businessman and broadcaster Lord Charles Allen would become its next chairman. The FTSE 250 firm said that Allen, a former chief executive of ITV and Granada, would take over as chair in July. A Labour peer, Allen has also been chairman of ISS and EMI Group, as [...]
Green infrastructure fund JLEN raises £57m May 13, 2021 Green infrastructure fund JLEN Environmental Assets Group today said it had successfully raised £56.9m through an oversubscribed placing. The FTSE 250 firm, which was formerly known as the John Laing Environmental Fund, said it would use the proceeds to fund a pipeline of near term opportunities. These include further investments into operational bio-energy assets and [...]
Rolls-Royce sticks to guidance as wait for travel restart continues May 13, 2021 Engineer Rolls-Royce this morning maintained that it would return to positive free cash flow in the second half of 2021 as vaccinations kick in and travellers return to the skies. In a trading update this morning, the blue-chip stock said that its performance so far this year to had been in line with expectations. It comes [...]
Kier looks to raise £241m from share placing May 13, 2021 Construction firm Kier today said that it would seek to raise £241m from the placing of 280m new shares in the FTSE 250 company. Priced at 85p per share, the raise will allow the infrastructure group to strengthen its balance sheet and refinance its existing borrowing facilities. Along with the sale of Kier Living, the [...]
Beazley sees premiums rise but flags $70m loss from US storms May 13, 2021 Insurance firm Beazley today said that its gross written premiums jumped nearly a fifth in what it labelled a “positive” start to 2021. The firm said that gross premiums written increased by 16 per cent to $971m in the first quarter, up from $840m in the same period last year. It added that its estimated [...]
First test trains run on Crossrail ahead of 2022 opening May 13, 2021 Initial testing on Crossrail’s Elizabeth Line has now kicked off, with four trains an hour now running on the line. It is the first phase in a series of major trials that must be completed before the much-delayed line opens in the first half of 2022. The firm also said it had handed over the [...]
Travel green list: Brits can go to Portugal and Israel from 17 May May 8, 2021 Brits will be able to travel to destinations including Portugal and Israel from 17 May, transport secretary Grant Shapps has announced. He said that 12 countries, including the two above and as Gibraltar, would be on the government’s travel “green list”. Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Brunei, and Iceland make up the rest of the list, [...]
FTSE 250 closes at record high on recovery hopes May 7, 2021 The FTSE 250 mid-cap index closed at a record high this week as hopes of a stronger economic recovery lifted industrial and consumer discretionary stocks. The FTSE 250 index advanced 1.2 per cent, with industrial stocks, including Easyjet, IMI and Pagegroup, rising between 2.7 and 5.1 per cent. The FTSE 100 meanwhile rose 0.76 per cent, [...]
David Cameron and Lex Greensill to appear before MPs next week May 7, 2021 David Cameron and Lex Greensill will appear before MPs next week to answer questions on the collapse of the boutique bank of the same name amid a huge lobbying row. The former Prime Minister was an adviser to the firm, which provided supply chain financing to firms including billionaire industrialist Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG empire. In [...]
Construction activity continues pacey growth but inflation fears loom May 7, 2021 UK construction activity continued its rapid growth in April, but the burst of activity saw the rate of input cost inflation rise to its highest levels since 1997. IHS Markit’s construction Purchasing Managers Index registered 61.6 last month, only fractionally below March’s record reading of 61.7. Any figure above 50.0 indicates an overall expansion of [...]
