Mota-Engil set for €1.5bn value June 16, 2014 AFRICAN based bridge builder Mota-Engil Africa yesterday unveiled plans to raise cash on the London stock market. The main market listing, led by Standard Bank, is expected to value the group at about €1.5bn (£1.2bn). The firm did not say how much it will raise, though it plans to sell 25 per cent of the [...]
Siemens woos Hollande over bid to buy Alstom June 16, 2014 EXECUTIVES from Siemens and Mitsubishi are meeting President Francois Hollande today as part of their bid for French engineering firm Alstom. The country’s government has positioned itself as a key player in the acquisition process, forcing would-be buyers to please it as well as Alstom’s shareholders before any sale can go through. Hollande’s intervention first [...]
Tesco’s rating cut again by Moody’s June 16, 2014 TESCO suffered fresh bad news yesterday as Moody’s cut its rating again for the troubled retail giant, reducing its rating to Baa2 from Baa1, only two grades above “junk” status. The downgrade comes after Tesco announced its worst sales results in decades recently, while also posting a six per cent drop in its annual profits, [...]
UK’s ad market to overtake Germany June 16, 2014 BRITAIN’S advertising market is set to overtake Germany’s to become the world’s fourth largest, as the UK’s economy continues to recover. Advertising revenue is on track to jump by £1bn, or 7.4 per cent, this year led by the boom in mobile advertising, according to research from Zenith Optimedia. Meanwhile digital recruitment advertising is also [...]
Boris predicts decade-long tech boom June 16, 2014 LONDON’S tech sector is growing by 5.1 per cent a year and will add another £12bn to the British economy over the next decade, mayor Boris Johnson said yesterday. As London Tech Week began, figures from South Mountain Economics and Bloomberg Philanthropies showed London has more people working in financial technology than any other city [...]
Mitchells & Butlers pulls off £266m Orchid deal June 16, 2014 HARVESTER and All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers yesterday announced it has acquired rival pub operator Orchid Group for £266m in cash, in a deal that the firm expects will lead to a double digit boost to earnings. Orchid’s 173 pubs will join Mitchells & Butlers’ existing estate of 1,592 managed pubs and 52 [...]
Vodafone to talk to machines with Cobra Automotive deal June 16, 2014 VODAFONE yesterday announced its intention to buy Cobra Automotive Technologies for €1.49 per share in cash, in a deal worth €145m (£115m). The Italian firm specialises in car electronic services including vehicle tracking, usage-based insurance and security to the car industry. The deal comes as Vodafone seeks to expand its range of machine to machine [...]
BT leads the FTSE 100 fallers on pension and regulation fears June 16, 2014 TELECOMS group BT dragged the FTSE 100 index down yesterday on concerns that it will be hit by an increase in its pension deficit and that Ofcom is preparing to crackdown on its wholesale pricing of superfast broadband. BT’s shares dropped 2.4 per cent, the biggest individual faller on the FTSE 100, with traders citing [...]
Majestic Wine’s profits to stay flat until 2016 June 16, 2014 British booze retailer Majestic Wine disappointed investors yesterday after it reported flat profits of £23.8m for the year ended 31 March, compared to £23.7m the previous year, amid a market that its chairman said had been challenging for the business. Majestic’s board also warned that the company does not expect to see further substantial profit [...]
Analyst Views: Is it time to toast Majestic wine after its full year results? June 16, 2014 KATE CALVERT | INVESTEC Full-year 2014 profit came in £100,000 better than we expected, after a warning in March following weak January and February sales. We believe the longer term growth prospects remain intact with the current valuation supported by an attractive dividend and strong cashflow. NEIL SAUNDERS | CONLUMINO The plans to invest in [...]
