Blinkx suffers as investors lose faith in the battle-scarred firm May 6, 2014 BLINKX, the online video advertising firm whose share price plummeted in January on the back of a critical blog post, saw its shares fall another 8.38 per cent yesterday to 84.75p as retail investors abandoned the firm following disappointing results. Despite Blinkx’s revenue jumping 25 per cent in the past year to $247m (£147.56m) with [...]
Flight MH370 and a wet British weather hit Hiscox’s premiums May 6, 2014 SPECIALIST insurer Hiscox has reported an overall fall in gross written premiums in the first three months of the year. The group also revealed a small exposure to the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370 flight, which is thought to have crashed into the ocean after taking off from Kuala Lumpur earlier this year. Additionally, Hiscox was [...]
US winter and foreign exchange woes impact Lafarge’s earnings May 6, 2014 FRENCH cement company Lafarge, which has agreed a mega-merger with Swiss rival Holcim, yesterday posted a fall in first-quarter revenues and flat earnings, hit by currency headwinds and a harsh US winter. “Our first quarter results confirmed the positive trends experienced at the end of last year,” said chief executive Bruno Lafont. “Our volumes were [...]
Energy switching rises in April May 6, 2014 The number of customers switching energy suppliers grew for the third month in a row in April, hitting a total of 289,000, according to Energy UK. Amid the ongoing cost of living debate and rising energy bills, an increasing number of people have been looking outside of the big six for cheaper deals. The number [...]
Pamplona buys British trains May 6, 2014 Investment manager Pamplona Capital Management is to buy UK train leasing company Beacon Rail for around $450m (£265m) from a subsidiary of Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. Beacon owns 77 locomotives, 632 freight wagons and 20 passenger trains, which it leases out to rail operators and freight transport firms. The deal follows KKR’s investment in [...]
BMW beats profit forecasts May 6, 2014 German luxury car maker BMW said yesterday that it is on track to hit record vehicle sales and pre-tax profit in 2014 after strong sales in China helped it to post a 2.6 per cent rise in first quarter operating profit as forecast. Spending on production capacity dented profits, which nevertheless came in above forecasts [...]
US corporate results round up May 6, 2014 Shares in Office Depot rise on plan to shut 400 stores in the States Office Depot has raised its forecast for full-year adjusted profit and said it would close at least 400 stores in the United States over two years, sending the office supply retailer's shares up about 15 per cent at the start of [...]
Clipper Logistics plans London float as it eyes European growth May 6, 2014 LOGISTICS firm Clipper yesterday unveiled its plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, as it looks to accelerate its European expansion drive and take advantage of the growing online retail market. The company provides tailor-made logistics solutions for pure-play online retailers such as Asos and traditional high street retailers adopting multichannel strategies such as [...]
Lufthansa hit by pilot strikes May 6, 2014 Lufthansa, Europe’s largest airline by revenue, said that it was working hard in a tough market to recoup earnings lost through a series of pilots’ strikes as it reported a narrower first-quarter loss yesterday. The German airline, which is also fighting competition from low-cost rivals, kept its target for 2014 adjusted operating profit of €1.7bn [...]
Gemfields’ auction revenues rise May 6, 2014 Aim-listed precious stones miner Gemfields yesterday said its latest emeralds auction in Jaipur, held from 28 April to 2 May, made revenues of $13.5m (£7.95m), a 59 per cent increase over the prior auction last year. “Thanks to favourable market conditions and strong demand for higher quality emeralds, we have generated another solid trading profit [...]
