Northacre posts return to profit November 19, 2013 NORTHACRE, the property developer behind luxury addresses including the Phillimores in Kensington, said yesterday it had returned to profit thanks to a “more lively” housing market. The company said it made a pre-tax profit of £13m for the six months to 31 August, compared with a loss of £6,000 in the same period last year [...]
Galliford Try housing sales reach record high after strong season November 19, 2013 GALLIFORD Try said yesterday that housing sales had leapt by 21 per cent to a record £585m after a strong autumn selling season. The British housebuilding and construction group said £485m of those sales were for the current financial year to 30 June 2014, up 33 per cent on last year. Sales prices have increased [...]
Smiths Group on track despite revenue dip across two divisions November 19, 2013 ENGINEERING company Smiths Group yesterday said trading was in-line with expectations after revenues and operating profits rose last quarter. The group’s outgoing chairman Donald Brydon told the company’s annual meeting that revenue at two of its units – Smiths Medical and Smiths Interconnect – fell in the three months ending 2 November. Strong revenue growth [...]
City Moves for 20 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 19, 2013 Aviva The insurance company has announced the appointment of Colm Holmes as chief financial officer of its UK and Ireland general insurance business. He was most recently at Zurich Insurance Group, where he was group treasurer and head of capital management. UBS Wealth Management The wealth management business has recruited six specialists to its strategic partnership team. [...]
Atkins takes over nuclear firm November 19, 2013 Atkins, the UK engineering group, has snapped up a nuclear safety and design consultancy firm based in the US. Nuclear Safety Associates (NSA), which employs 130 people, will come under the Atkins umbrella once the US government approves the deal. No financial terms were disclosed. The acquisition is part of Atkins bid to corner the [...]
Bodycote remains buoyant November 19, 2013 Metal company Bodycote yesterday said acquisitions help offset a dip in revenues in the three months ending October. Organic revenues fell 1.3 per cent but acquisitions added 4.9 per cent, giving the group revenue growth of 3.6 per cent on a constant exchange rate basis. “Although economic growth in both Europe and North America continues [...]
Slim out of running for Repsol November 19, 2013 Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim is not looking to purchase a 10 per cent stake in Spanish oil company Repsol, spokesman Arturo Elias Ayub said yesterday. Spain’s ABC newspaper reported earlier yesterday that Mexico’s state-run oil monopoly Pemex wants Slim to buy a stake in Repsol and join it in a new investor alliance in the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 20 November 2013 November 19, 2013 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com QUINTAIN Barclays keeps its overweight rating on the London property developer but has trimmed its target price by 2p to 130p following the sale of its Greenwich project. The broker thinks the growing demand for homes in the city will play in Quintain’s [...]
London Report: Intertek caution drags FTSE to a sub-6,700 close November 19, 2013 B RITAIN’S top share index slipped yesterday, hurt by testing firm Intertek on worries over a slowdown in its business, though analysts were confident that technical support would cap any weakness in the broader market. Intertek, a company specialising in safety and quality tests, fell 2.5 per cent after saying headwinds experienced in the first [...]
New York Report: Stocks drop off their highs for a second day November 19, 2013 US STOCKS fell yesterday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 retreating further from milestone levels, led by a slide in Best Buy after a disappointing outlook. Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, said that the Fed may need to wait until next year, possibly until March, before beginning to wind down [...]
