Drax stays upbeat despite profit slide February 18, 2014 DRAX Group, Britain’s largest coal-fired power station that is set to become one of the world’s biggest renewable generators, has reported a whopping 83 per cent drop in statutory profit before tax to £32m for 2013, due in part to rising carbon costs. The electrical power generation company has been focusing its energies on its [...]
Pendragon expects car sales to race further ahead this year February 18, 2014 CAR SELLER Pendragon said motorists are still splashing out on vehicles after breaking post-recession sales records last year, helping boost its earnings. Chief executive Trevor Finn said the strong momentum going into 2014, with UK new car sales up 7.6 per cent on last year in January, shows few signs of slowing. “There’s an optimism [...]
Kalibrate’s sales rise after float February 18, 2014 Kalibrate Technologies, the technology company that develops software for the petroleum industry, yesterday said its full year results are in line with expectations following trading since its public offering in November. Kalibrate said it expects to report half-year revenues of not less than £8.8m for the six months to 31 December, up from the £7.5m [...]
Gtech swoops for Probability February 18, 2014 Probability, the mobile gambling developer, has agreed an £18m takeover by Gtech. Probability investors are set to receive 50p for every share they hold, a nearly 60 per cent premium on the price before the offer. Probability counts Icap founder Michael Spencer and billionaire Joe Lewis among its investors. Gtech’s offer values Spencer’s stake at [...]
L&G provides debt for 500 homes February 18, 2014 Legal & General (L&G) has agreed to provide one of London’s largest housing associations with a £40m loan as part of its expansion into the UK housing sector. The insurer, which already has a strong presence in housing through its co-ownership of Cala Homes, said the 25-year loan to Thames Valley Housing Association would help [...]
Essar to cut Stanlow refinery costs February 18, 2014 Essar Energy, the power firm fielding a takeover bid from its biggest shareholder, yesterday said it is looking for $100m in cost cuts at the Stanlow oil refinery in Cheshire to offset a slump in output. The refinery, which Essar bought from Shell in 2011, saw production slump 68 per cent in the last quarter [...]
City Moves for 19 February 2014 | Who’s switching jobs February 18, 2014 Saxo Bank The investment bank has announced the appointment of Steen Blaafalk as global head of finance and risk operations. He previously spent 30 years at Danske Bank, where he was most recently acting head of group treasury and a member of its executive committee. Latham & Watkins The law firm has appointed Kem Ihenacho as [...]
Best of the Brokers for 19 February 2014 February 18, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com CENTRICA UBS has cut the owner of British Gas to a “sell” and slashed its target from 340p to 280p in the wake of recent political attacks on the energy sector. UBS believes the threat of imposed profit restrictions are likely to discourage [...]
London Report: Third straight day of gains sees FTSE erase 2014 losses February 18, 2014 BRITAIN’S top equity index erased its losses for the year as it rose for a third straight session yesterday, boosted by BHP Billiton and telecoms giant BT. Shares in global mining firm Billiton rose 1.9 per cent after first-half profit beat forecasts and it hinted at a share buyback in August, despite a cautious outlook [...]
New York Report: Bulls keep on running in US February 18, 2014 THE S&P 500 and Nasdaq rose yesterday, following Wall Street’s biggest weekly gain of the year, as merger activity increased confidence that there is value in the stock market even as the benchmark index nears a record high. The Nasdaq Composite rose for an eighth straight session, a streak not seen since early July. Economic [...]
