Africa’s Fastjet raises £50m in share placing April 1, 2015 AFRICAN budget airline Fastjet raised £50m through a placing of 5bn new shares yesterday. The London-listed group said it was raising cash to fulfil working capital requirements in order to launch and grow operations in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and South Africa. The firm said the placing would provide sufficient funds to build “a sizeable operation [...]
Go, go, GoDaddy as first trading day hits heights April 1, 2015 WEB FIRM GoDaddy defied analyst predictions on Tuesday night after raising $460m (£310m) in its initial public offering (IPO), with the company pricing its shares at $20 instead of the $17–$19 expected. However its decision to price above expectations proved too cautious, as shares in the company rocketed 34 per cent on its debut, valuing [...]
Sanne share price rises 10 per cent on its first day of trading after IPO April 1, 2015 Shares in corporate administration provider Sanne Group surged on their debut yesterday, opening at 221p per share, a 10 per cent premium on its listing price. The company raised £142m when it floated last Friday in a move which valued the company at £232m. Previous majority holder Inflexion Private Equity said the initial public offer [...]
Shawbrook share price picks up after successful stock market flotation April 1, 2015 Challenger bank Shawbrook enjoyed a successful stock market debut yesterday, as its share price rose by as much as 6.5 per cent. The lender joined rivals, including Virgin Money and Aldermore among recent floats in the sector. Shawbrook’s shares priced at 290p, but rose as high as 308.75p in trading, before settling back to 302.5 [...]
Toyota sales in China are hit by rivals’ discounts April 1, 2015 DISCOUNTING by competitors has hit Toyota’s first-quarter sales in China, the world’s largest car maker announced yesterday. Sales of Toyota cars and its two Chinese joint ventures – China FAW Group and Guangzhou Automobile – fell 20.9 per cent in March, while those for the first three months of the year slipped 0.1 per cent. [...]
Weak sales in US and Asia hit exports of Scotland’s tipple April 1, 2015 A DECADE of strong growth in scotch whisky exports came to an end last year as overseas sales fell, according to new figures. The Scotch Whisky Association announced yesterday that HM Revenue and Customs data showed exports fell seven per cent to £3.95bn in 2014. The decline was in part due to a sharp drop [...]
Sony halves its stake in Olympus as accounting scandal is settled April 1, 2015 JAPANESE electronics giant Sony yesterday halved its stake in Olympus and is no longer its top shareholder, according to the camera and endoscope maker . Sony now owns five per cent of Olympus shares – worth ¥76bn (£430m) – compared with 10 per cent as of the end of September 2014, Olympus said in a [...]
Holcim open to Eurocement offer April 1, 2015 SWISS cement maker Holcim is open to giving Russia’s Eurocement a seat on the board after its merger with French peer Lafarge goes through, chairman Wolfgang Reitzle said yesterday. Russian businessman Filaret Galchev, who owns a 10.8 per cent stake in Holcim via Eurocement Holding, on Sunday rejected the renegotiated merger terms that Holcim had [...]
Steel group to buy back $375m worth of shares April 1, 2015 STEEL manufacturer Evraz announced a share buy back worth up to $375m (£253m) yesterday, after revealing a loss of $1.28bn for 2014. The Russian firm, whose biggest shareholder is Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, blamed currency issues in part for the hit on profits, which was more than double than the $551m loss posted in [...]
Real Good Food in talks to sell its sugar business Napier Brown April 1, 2015 INGREDIENTS supplier Real Good Food said yesterday it is exploring the sale of its sugar business Napier Brown as plunging EU prices continue to dent sales. The company said Napier Brown has returned to profit after a very poor first half. However, it remained behind expectations for the year. “’The difficulties in the sugar market [...]
