Coastal Energy set to leave Aim following £1.4bn takeover offer November 19, 2013 COASTAL Energy Company, one of the biggest firms listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), yesterday said it has agreed to be acquired by Spanish oil firm Cepsa for about C$2.3bn (£1.36bn) including debt. Coastal, which is dual-listed in London and Toronto, accepted a cash offer of C$19 per share that placed a 28 per [...]
Melrose encouraged by trading at water meter business Elster November 19, 2013 ENGINEERING investment group Melrose said it has seen encouraging signs in its water meter company Elster as overall trading remains on track. The FTSE 100 company said Elster, which it bought in 2012, had grown sales by four per cent in the period since 1 July. Once the company has completed a raft of disposals [...]
Entertainment One boosted by film acquisition November 19, 2013 ENTERTAINMENT One, the film and television distributor, reported record revenue growth of more than 65 per cent yesterday after the company’s acquisition of its largest Canadian competitor was completed in January. “It’s been transformational for the business,” chief executive Darren Throop told City AM. Throop said the purchase of Alliance Film is on track to [...]
Punters take home the profits as Paddy Power runs out of luck November 19, 2013 UNFAVOURABLE football and horse racing results led Paddy Power to warn yesterday that its full year operating profit would be €11m (£9.2m), lower than it forecast three months ago. “We now expect to achieve low to mid single digit percentage operating profit growth in 2013 in constant currency, before currency translation headwinds of three per [...]
Intertek slumps as headwinds hit business November 19, 2013 TESTING firm Intertek led the FTSE 100 lower yesterday on concerns over a slowdown in its business, falling as much as 4.2 per cent to the bottom of the index after saying says that headwinds experienced in the first-half of the year have continued into the second half. The firm, which tests products from toys [...]
Best Buy cuts holiday prices November 19, 2013 BEST Buy is cutting prices for the holiday season to thwart fierce competition from Wal-Mart and other discount and online rivals, a move that it warns will hurt margins for the current quarter. Yesterday’s news took some momentum from Best Buy’s stock, one of this year’s hottest, sending the shares down nearly 11 per cent. [...]
Shareholders back Nokia’s €5.4bn handset group selloff November 19, 2013 SHAREHOLDERS overwhelmingly backed the €5.44bn (£4.5bn) sale of Nokia’s devices and services division to software giant Microsoft yesterday. At an emergency general meeting Nokia chairman Risto Siilasmaa said that 99 per cent of the company’s shareholders had already voted in support of the sale – which is designed to inject much needed cash into the [...]
Gates pleased with search for new CEO November 19, 2013 MICROSOFT chairman Bill Gates said yesterday he was pleased with the software giant’s progress in finding a new chief executive and that the search committee had spoken to a number of candidates, but did not give a date by which he expected a new leader to replace the retiring Steve Ballmer. Speaking at Microsoft’s annual [...]
Amec still on the acquisition hunt as orders grow November 19, 2013 ENGINEERING firm Amec said yesterday it was on track to meet 2013 guidance boosted by strong performances in the UK North Sea and the US Gulf of Mexico. The group said its pipeline for acquisition “remains strong,” and reiterated that it would consider returning cash to shareholders this quarter if no acquisitions are made. The [...]
Afren soars to two-year high after giant oil find in Nigeria November 19, 2013 SHARES in Africa-focused oil firm Afren soared yesterday after it said an exploration well in an under-explored offshore Nigerian basin had found far more oil than expected. Analysts at UBS called the discovery “giant”, adding it “looks to be one of the most important made in West Africa in recent history,” in a note sent to [...]
