New agreements for rising pay point to end of wage squeeze February 20, 2014 NEW PAY awards to employees started to rise at the end of 2013, according to an analysis of 115 major settlements, indicating that real pay may now be rising after years of decline. Human resources firm XpertHR say that the average settlement in the deals, which cover nearly a quarter of a million workers, increased [...]
BAE slides as it warns on profit for a third year February 20, 2014 SHARES in BAE Systems plummeted yesterday, after the FTSE 100-listed defence giant warned that earnings would be lower this year due to US budget cuts and delays to finalising a Saudi jets deal. “Following last year’s non-recurring benefit from the Salam price escalation settlement, together with continuing US budget pressures, the group’s reported earnings per [...]
Shell offloads Italian retail unit to Kuwait February 20, 2014 FTSE 100 oil major Dutch Shell yesterday said it will sell its Italian retail, logistics and aviation businesses to Kuwait Petroleum International. Under the agreement, Shell’s retail network of over 830 service stations in the country will be rebranded to Q8. No value was disclosed for the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval and [...]
Petra Diamonds chief predicts buoyant demand from China February 20, 2014 THE CHIEF executive of Petra Diamonds yesterday shrugged off concerns of a growth slowdown in China to predict increased demand for diamonds from the world’s second largest economy, as the FTSE 250-quoted miner unveiled solid first-half results. “Growth is being redirected from high levels of infrastructure spend to a consumer-type economy,” Johan Dippenaar told City [...]
Essentra boss eyes larger deals and targets £1bn in sales in 2014 February 20, 2014 ESSENTRA is eyeing larger deals as it looks to ramp up its acquisition spree in 2014, its chief executive said yesterday. Colin Day told City A.M. that the FTSE 250 plastic and fibre products maker has “three or four projects in the pipeline at the moment” and is “very open to doing a bigger deal [...]
Petrofac shares touch 3-month high on $1.2bn BP contract win February 20, 2014 PETROFAC’S shares surged to a three-month high yesterday after the oil and gas services provider said it had secured a $1.2bn (£780m) contract with BP. FTSE 100-listed Petrofac said it would be working on the Khazzan gas project in Oman for BP – the largest new upstream project in the region. The scope of the [...]
Lufthansa strike to hit flights February 20, 2014 Germany’s largest airline Deutsche Lufthansa said yesterday it would cancel 15 flights this morning due to a security staff strike. German trade union Verdi has called on security workers at Frankfurt airport to go on strike today in a bid to push for higher pay, a move likely to cause widespread disruption at Europe’s third [...]
Kentz shakes up business units February 20, 2014 Engineering firm Kentz Corporation yesterday said it will re-align the services it offers through its three business units to take account of recent acquisitions. The group’s engineering procurement and construction (EPC) business unit is to be renamed engineering and projects. The division will include its recent Valerus acquisition. The group said its construction and technical [...]
Ireland under fire over EU laws February 20, 2014 The European Commission yesterday referred Ireland to Europe’s highest court for failing to comply with EU laws ensuring competition and fair distribution of energy supplies, and is demanding a daily penalty of more than €20,000 (£16,400). Ireland’s Department of Energy said it expected to have most of the technical provisions of the law in place [...]
EE targeting six million 4G users by end of 2014 February 20, 2014 BRITAIN’S biggest mobile operator EE said rapid 4G customer growth during its fourth quarter meant it now had two million customers using its super-fast data service. Chief executive Olaf Swantee told City A.M. that the network is targeting six million 4G customers – that EE makes an extra £2 per month from compared to customers [...]
