BAE slapped with $79m US fine May 17, 2011 Defence contractor BAE Systems has agreed to pay additional fines of up to $79m (£48m) for flouting US regulations governing the export of sensitive military hardware. BAE, Europe’s biggest defence company and a major supplier to the US military, said on Tuesday that the latest penalties formed part of a civil settlement with the US [...]
Aviva hit by drop in life insurance sales May 17, 2011 Insurer Aviva reported a 14 per cent drop in life insurance sales during the first quarter as it withdrew from less profitable segments of the market. Aviva had long term savings sales of £8.8bn in the first three months of the year, down from £10.2 billion a year earlier, it said. The decrease came as [...]
Vodafone earnings climb May 17, 2011 Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue, issued a bullish outlook for 2012 after posting resilient full-year results boosted by customers upgrading to smartphones. Analysts had expected the firm to post a cautious outlook after recent weak trading updates from rivals, but instead Vodafone said it was gaining or holding market share in most [...]
Bomb warning closes London streets May 16, 2011 A bomb warning has been received relating to a threat in central London, the Metropolitan Police has confirmed. Scotland Yard said the threat did not provide specifics about location or time. The Mall and other central London streets were closed for five hours this morning. The warning is thought to be related to Irish dissident [...]
FTSE edges down as IMF scandal cast shadow over markets May 16, 2011 The FTSE 100 fell in early trading as the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn threatened to derail crisis talks on eurozone debt. Strauss-Kahn, who denies a sexual assault charge in the US, was a pivotal player in tackling the eurozone debt mountain. A bailout package for Portugal is set to be given the green [...]
Eurozone inflation rises May 16, 2011 More expensive energy drove eurozone headline inflation higher in April and core inflation jumped as well, data showed, confirming an earlier estimate and the ECB’s concern about rising inflationary risks. The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat said consumer prices in the 17 countries using the euro rose 0.6 per cent month-on-month, confirming its earlier year-on-year [...]
Glencore narrows float guidance May 16, 2011 Commodities giant Glencore International has tightened guidance for its planned $11bn (£6bn) initial public offering (IPO), pushing up the mid-point of the marketing range, a source said, in a sign the commodities trader has seen stronger demand at the higher end of an indicative range. Glencore’s IPO has entered the home stretch after a two-week [...]
John Wood to pay for £1bn buyback with sale May 16, 2011 Oil services provider John Wood Group said it will buy back shares to return the $1.7bn (£1bn) promised to shareholders from the sale of its well support division. The company said on Monday that it will purchase up to 32.1 per cent of Wood Group’s shares within a price range of 605 to 625 pence [...]
Mears order book jump as new contracts sealed May 16, 2011 Construction company Mears has secured new contracts worth £120m since March and has seen its order book make a healthy rise. The company said its order book stood at £2.7bn with 93 per cent of this year’s target revenue already secured. Chief executive David Miles said: ”We continue to see high levels of opportunity within [...]
Alliance Boots sees profit climb May 16, 2011 Healthcare group Alliance Boots bucked the gloom around retailers, posting a 14.2 per cent rise in year profit, and cutting its debt. The group, taken private in 2007 in what at the time was Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout, said on Monday it made a trading profit of £1.05bn in the year to 31 March. Revenue [...]
