Cairn Energy loses its deputy chief and its finance director April 10, 2014 SCOTTISH oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy yesterday said its deputy chief executive and its chief financial officer are stepping down for “long term succession planning reasons”, merely weeks after founder Sir Bill Gammell said he would retire as chairman. Deputy chief Mike Watts and finance director Jann Brown will not seek re-election at the [...]
Stelios takes up Fastjet cash call April 10, 2014 African budget airline Fastjet yesterday raised £11m through a private placement of shares, including a £1m investment from a unit of EasyGroup, the firm led by EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. EasyGroup has also agreed to waive £4.3m in consultancy fees in exchange for £1.5m-worth of new shares. The Aim-listed airline, which expects to post [...]
Rothesay’s £111m bulk annuity April 10, 2014 Rothesay Life, the life insurer co-owned by Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, yesterday struck a £111m bulk annuity deal with Western United Group Pension Scheme. It follows a similar £115m deal between the two last year. The transaction will see the pension scheme transfer some of its investments over to Rothesay. “Repeat business is the best [...]
Polar assets rise in quarter April 10, 2014 Polar Capital said group assets under management rose two per cent to more than $13.2bn in the March quarter after it took in $750m in new investment across a range of products. “Markets have made an uncertain start to 2014 but assuming they do not deteriorate from recent levels we remain well positioned to continue [...]
Sales at Jaguar Land Rover soar April 10, 2014 CHINESE motorists bought 36 per cent more Jaguars and Land Rovers in the first three months of the year, helping to send sales at the luxury car firm up eight per cent to 124,776. Jaguar Land Rover’s new ranges fuelled sales growth in Asia and North America, where orders rose 13 per cent compared to [...]
UK Coal receives £10m state loan to close mines April 10, 2014 THE UK government said yesterday that it will give a £10m loan to UK Coal to help finance a managed closure of two of its mines over the next 18 months. “The taxpayer would face significant losses and liabilities in the event of an immediate insolvency of UK Coal, principally relating to redundancy and unpaid [...]
Wembley Arena to be rebranded as the SSE Arena in 10-year deal April 10, 2014 WEMBLEY Arena will be renamed the SSE Arena under a new 10-year deal signed with the FTSE 100 energy giant, announced yesterday. Entertainment company AEG brokered the deal, which starts from 1 June, having taken over the running of the venue last year. The agreement is estimated to be worth around £15m and the proceeds [...]
WH Smith raises dividend after increasing profit April 10, 2014 STATIONER and bookseller WH Smith yesterday raised its dividend to shareholders, reflecting its confidence in future prospects after it posted a three per cent rise in first-half profit. The group, which has over 1,200 stores primarily in the UK as well an increasing presence overseas, said headline pre-tax profit for the six months to the [...]
Tanning gives PZ Cussons lift April 10, 2014 PZ CUSSONS reported a strong set of numbers yesterday driven by sales of its Imperial Leather and Carex soaps in Europe. The consumer goods group said its beauty division had grown due to sales of its St Tropez self-tanning products that had been boosted by model Kate Moss working as brand ambassador. PZ Cussons also [...]
Mr & Mrs Smith’s record quarter April 10, 2014 MR & MRS Smith, the travel publisher and boutique hotel specialist, yesterday announced a record first quarter, with revenue jumping 28 per cent compared to a year earlier. The company, which started taking bookings for boutique hotels in 2005, said March was its busiest month ever for sales bookings, with nearly £4.5m worth of room-nights [...]
