BP oil cap hit by “seepage” as bill reaches $4bn July 19, 2010 ENGINEERS monitoring BP’s damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico have detected seepage on the ocean floor while the company’s bill for the spill has hi $3.95bn (£2.58bn). BP said in a statement it continued to run an integrity test on the well, on which it placed a cap last week. The statement did not [...]
JP Morgan profit rises by 76 per cent July 15, 2010 JP Morgan has reported a 76 per cent rise in net profit – fuelled by a reduction in loan loss reserves. The group said profit for the quarter rose to $4.8bn (£3.1bn) or $1.09 a share, from $2.72bn, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. Meanwhile total revenue fell by two per cent to [...]
Carlyle Group in $3.8bn deal for NBTY July 15, 2010 PRIVATE equity company The Carlyle Group has agreed to buy vitamin maker NBTY for $3.8bn (£2.4bn). NBTY said Carlyle will acquire all of NBTY’s outstanding shares for $55 per share, a 47 per cent premium above the stock’s closing price of $37.47 on Wednesday. The deal is expected to close by the end of the [...]
BP admits lobbying over Lockerbie bomber release July 15, 2010 BP has admitted that it had lobbied the government in late 2007 over a prisoner transfer agreement for the man convicted of the Lockerbie bomber with Libya over fears it would hold up a drilling deal. “BP told the UK government that we were concerned about the slow progress that was being made in concluding [...]
Nippon Telegraph in £2bn swoop for Dimension Data July 15, 2010 NIPPON Telegraph and Telephone Corp said it will buy South African IT firm Dimension Data for up to £2.12bn in a bid to expand into overseas markets, including in fast-growing Africa. Japan’s top telecoms operator plans to launch a tender offer for all outstanding shares in Dimension Data. The South African firm provides IT-related services [...]
China growth slows July 15, 2010 THE pace of growth in China slowed in the second quarter, official figures show. China’s economy grew by 10.3 per cent in the April to June quarter – below the 11.9 per cent growth rate during the first quarter of the year. The government has introduced a range of measures to cool down the economy. [...]
Glaxo facing £1.5bn legal bill over diabetes drug July 15, 2010 GlaxoSmithKline expects to record a legal charge of £1.57bn for the second quarter after settling the “substantial majority” of claims relating to its diabetes pill Avandia. The drugmaker said the charge would cover not only settlements for Avandia but also other long-standing legal cases, including an investigation into its former factory at Cidra in Puerto [...]
Mothercare sales slide in UK July 15, 2010 MOTHERCARE posted a bigger-than-expected drop in first-quarter sales in its main British market – but thrived in foreign markets. The mother and baby retailer, which has 1,115 stores in 52 countries but makes about three quarters of its revenue in Britain, said sales at UK stores open at least a year fell 4.1 per cent [...]
SuperGroup profit soars July 15, 2010 FASHION retailer SuperGroup’s full-year pre-tax profit soared to £22.46m from £7.59m last year. Group revenue for the 52 weeks ended May 2, 2010 was up 83.1 per cent to £139.4m from £76.14m in the comparable period. The surge has been fuelled by the company’s Superdry label which has been sported by a host of celebrities [...]
Experian revenue up seven per cent July 15, 2010 CREDIT-CHECKING company Experian has posted a seven per cent rise in revenue. It said the figures suggested that the UK-based company was seeing an improvement across most of its markets, The company indicated that its five per cent revenue growth in North America encapsulated its progress. However, revenue remains in the UK declined at actual [...]
