Synergy Health enjoys good growth in the US November 12, 2013 SYNERGY Health, which provides support services to the healthcare industry, reported a 12 per cent rise in adjusted first-half profit, helped by bolt-on acquisitions and its expansion in the United States. The company, which sterilises surgical gowns and instruments and provides laboratory services to hospitals and surgery centres, also said that negotiations with a large [...]
Glaxo slumps as heart drug misses study goal November 12, 2013 AN EXPERIMENTAL GlaxoSmithKline drug, designed to fight heart disease in a new way, has failed to meet its main goal in a major late-stage clinical study, dealing a blow to one of the company’s biggest new treatment hopes. Darapladib’s inability to reduce the overall risk of heart attacks and strokes in the first of two [...]
Carlsberg grabs Heinz veteran Warmoth to cash in on Asia thirst November 12, 2013 DANISH brewer Carlsberg has appointed former Heinz executive Christopher Warmoth as head of its Asia business to aim for a bigger share of the high-growth market to offset weak beer sales in recession-hit western Europe. Asia has become the main battle ground for the world’s biggest brewers, such as Carlsberg, AB InBev, SABMiller and Heineken, [...]
Swiss Life shares rocket after chief executive takes his leave November 12, 2013 SWISS Life chief executive Bruno Pfister will resign next year and be replaced by investment chief Patrick Frost, drawing a line under a tenure associated with troubles at German arm AWD that culminated in a hefty writedown last year. Shares in Switzerland’s biggest dedicated life insurer jumped nearly six per cent after the announcement yesterday [...]
Volkswagen sales up two per cent November 12, 2013 Car maker Volkswagen said yesterday sales of its core passenger-car brand rose two per cent in October “despite ongoing economic uncertainty”. Deliveries at VW’s namesake brand increased to 511,400 cars and sport-utility vehicles from 501,400 a year earlier, the Wolfsburg-based company said. Ten-month sales were up 3.4 per cent at 4.88m, with double-digit growth in [...]
Tech firms raise new funds November 12, 2013 New York-based venture firm FirstMark Capital and London-based Atomico have each raised new funds, capitalising on their success in early-stage technology investing. FirstMark Capital raised $225m (£141.4m) new venture fund, its third, less than a year after raising another fund of the same size, it said in a release yesterday. Atomico, the London-based venture firm [...]
Alitalia may slash workforce November 12, 2013 Cash-strapped Italian airline Alitalia is planning the first mass firing since its 2008 privatisation to cut costs, but a source said it was unlikely to go far enough to persuade top shareholder Air France-KLM to rescue it in a cash call. Alitalia chief executive Gabriele del Torchio, a turnaround specialist, is expected to unveil his [...]
City Moves for 13 November 2013 | Who’s switching jobs November 12, 2013 Bovill The financial services consultancy has hired Ashley Kovas as head of funds. He was most recently at RBS, where he was head of compliance policy and chaired its group policy forum. Prior to that, Kovas was a director of strategy at the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Altus Partners The executive search company has announced the [...]
Best of the Brokers for 13 November 2013 November 12, 2013 WH SMITH UBS keeps its neutral rating on the retailer but has hiked its target from 750p to 1,000p, which it says still represents a 15 per cent discount to the rest of the sector to reflect the chain’s uncertain future. The broker raises questions about the firm’s long-term strategy beyond cutting costs. F&C ASSET [...]
London Report: Banking stocks stop FTSE index edging ahead November 12, 2013 FINANCIAL stocks kept a lid on the FTSE 100 yesterday after Goldman Sachs downgraded Royal Bank of Scotland. While the FTSE 100 closed little changed, banks and insurers combined to take 6.1 points off the index, handing back most of the gains they made in the previous session. Partly state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland fell [...]
