Daily Mail chairman Rothermere bids to buy rest of voting shares August 14, 2013 VISCOUNT Rothermere, chairman of Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT), yesterday offered to buy the remaining 10.8 per cent of voting shares in the media group that he does not already own. Harmsworth, who raised his stake in the shares from 59.9 to 89.2 per cent in July, said he will give investors 112.5 non-voting [...]
Profit miss for Voda’s Kabel Deutschland August 14, 2013 KABEL Deutschland yesterday posted worse-than-expected core profit for the three months to the end of June, as extra investments in broadband and marketing weighed. The company, which is in the process of being bought by Vodafone, reported 3.8 per cent higher earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA), at €217m (£185m). Revenues increased 4.6 [...]
Lookers on the up as boss steps down August 14, 2013 Car dealership Lookers revealed an increase in revenue and trading yesterday. The company achieved a record performance in the six months to the end of June with revenue up 20.3 per cent to £1.24bn. The sale of used cars has risen by 22 per cent and new car sales have grown by 19 per cent [...]
Mitie snaps up background checks firm August 14, 2013 Outsourcing company Mitie yesterday bought one of the UK’s largest providers of online criminal records checking services, UKCRB. The business will be integrated into the existing employee screening service provided by Mitie, which hopes to improve turn-around times and expand their technology platform. The UK’s outsourced screening and vetting market had an estimated worth of [...]
Upbeat YouGov trading in line August 14, 2013 Online market research agency YouGov said in an update yesterday that it was trading in line with expectations for the first seven months of the year. The firm also said its balance sheet remained strong with net cash of about £6m at 31 July. “Our revenue growth continues to outperform the overall market research sector [...]
Capacity cuts help Cathay Pacific August 14, 2013 Cathay Pacific Airways, the world’s largest international air cargo carrier, is scaling back seating capacity on some long-haul routes to offset declines in its air freight business, allowing it to post a first-half net profit yesterday. Cathay said its net income hit HK$24m (£1.99m) for the first six months of the year, compared to a [...]
City Moves for 15 August 2013 | Who’s switching jobs August 14, 2013 Fitch Learning The financial education firm has announced the appointment of David Gumley to its sales division. Gumley was most recently at BPP Professional Education, where he was commercial director for the northern region. Lloyds Banking Group Eric Jenkins has joined the bank as a director in its acquisition finance division. Jenkins has over 15 years’ [...]
Best of the Brokers for 15 August 2013 August 14, 2013 JUPITER Cantor Fitzgerald keeps its “buy” rating and target at 431p following a placing by big investor TA Associates at 350p per share. The broker remains impressed by the fund manager’s cost control and prospects for a dividend. AVIVA Canaccord Genuity has upgraded the insurer from “hold” to “buy” and raised its target from 385p [...]
London Report: Blue chips drop as ex-dividends spark sell off August 14, 2013 THE FTSE 100 ended lower yesterday, with losses for companies going ex-dividend offsetting the impact of positive macroeconomic data, which lifted financial stocks. Kazakh miner ENRC, down 2.7 per cent, was among the top fallers on the FTSE 100 after announcing a steeper-than-expected drop in first-half profit, while global miner Rio Tinto fell 1.8 per [...]
New York Report: Wall St falls as fears over Fed tapering weigh August 14, 2013 WALL Street stocks fell yesterday pressured by uncertainty about the Federal Reserve’s plans to withdraw stimulus, but European shares rose to 2-1/2-month highs after data showed the Eurozone emerged from recession in the second quarter. The euro slipped despite the encouraging euro zone economic data as higher US bond yields buoyed the dollar, while sterling [...]
