Charter opens books as Melrose sweetens offer September 1, 2011 Manufacturing buyout firm Melrose sweetened its £1.4bn offer for reluctant takeover target Charter International, securing access to the toolmaker’s books but not a recommendation from its board. Melrose said on Thursday that it had upped the value of its approach by two per cent, offering 850 pence a share versus 840 pence previously and proposing [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown weathers market turmoil September 1, 2011 Wealth manager Hargreaves Lansdown said it is bucking the market turmoil of recent weeks and new business in July and August are a third ahead of the same period last year. The company said in an earnings statement for the year to June 30 on Thursday, that while markets have proved weak since the reporting [...]
Spirit lifts sales but Punch still struggling September 1, 2011 Spirit Pub Company reported strong sales growth in the fourth quarter and said it was on track to meet full-year expectations as it gave its first trading update since demerging from Punch Taverns in August. The company, which owns around 900 pubs that it manages directly, said on Thursday sales at pubs open more than [...]
International growth drives Hayes profits up by 50pc September 1, 2011 Recruiter Hays said it would continue to focus on international markets, where strong demand helped deliver a 50 per cent rise in its full-year profit, in the face of slowing growth in the UK’s private sector. Hays, which specialises in placing office workers such as accountants and secretaries, on Thursday posted pretax profit before exceptional [...]
FSA fines Swift Trade £8m for market abuse August 31, 2011 The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Swift Trade £8m for market abuse, a decision the now-dissolved Canadian firm is appealing. “In the FSA’s opinion, between 1 January 2007 and 4 January 2008, Swift Trade’s manipulative trading caused a succession of small price movements in a wide range of individual shares on the London Stock [...]
FTSE edges up as investors eye US strategy August 31, 2011 The FTSE 100 opened solidly this morning as investors kept their eyes on the situation across the Atlantic with hopes still alive that the US Federal Reserve will trigger stimulus measures to boost the struggling economy. US stocks rose for a third straight day yesterday in a volatile session, after minutes from the latest Federal [...]
Eurozone inflation steady but unemployment up August 31, 2011 Eurozone annual inflation was unchanged in August while the number of people without jobs grew, data showed on Wednesday, adding to expectations that the next ECB interest rate move could be a cut rather than a hike. EU statistics office Eurostat said inflation in the 17 countries using the euro was 2.5 per cent year-on-year [...]
Southern Cross chief to stand down with no severance pay August 31, 2011 The chief executive of failed care home operator Southern Cross is to step down, the company’s board said. Jamie Buchan joined the company in 2009 with the task of turning it around. The board said his anticipated departure was “part of the financial restructuring of the group” and would happen “once the process of transitioning [...]
Bailiffs raid Moscow office of BP unit August 31, 2011 Bailiffs raided BP’s Moscow offices on Wednesday, causing new problems for the oil company a day after ExxonMobil signed a deal that ended BP’s hopes of developing Arctic offshore oil fields with Russia. The morning raid, in which about 15 black-clad special force officers entered the central Moscow headquarters of BP Trading and sealed it [...]
Posen urges more QE from G7 August 31, 2011 Central banks across advanced economies should buy more financial assets in a last-ditch attempt to support growth, Bank of England policymaker Adam Posen has said. Advanced economies face no real inflation danger, and the limited effect of previous rounds of quantitative easing in the United States and Britain mean more is needed, Posen wrote in [...]
