Rio Tinto clinches West African mining deal March 19, 2010 MINING heavyweight Rio Tinto has signed up for a joint iron ore venture in West Africa with state owned metals group Chinalco. The Anglo-Australian miner is putting its 95 per cent stake in the Simandou project in Guinea into the mix with Chinalco then paying $1.35bn (£891m) for a 47 per cent interest in the [...]
Currys owner says turnaround on track March 19, 2010 CURRYS and PC World owner DSG International has said its turnaround plan is on target. The company pledged to deliver better profits and that its programme of revamping stores was on schedule, in a trading update. It will now accelerate the roll-out of its Megastore and 2-in-1 – combined Currys and PC World – stores. [...]
Bradford & Bingley in £196m loss March 19, 2010 BRADFORD & Bingley has said that its pre-tax £196m losses last year were much lower than the targets agreed with Government. The former building society’s was nationalized in September 2008, after which Santander bought B&B’s £20bn savings business for £612m. That left the taxpayer owning a £42bn mortgage book. Managing director Richard Banks said: “We [...]
Lloyds “to return to profit” says Daniels March 19, 2010 LLOYDS Banking Group has predicted that it will return to profit this year in a trading update. The lender – which is 41 per cent owned by the taxpayer – made an operating loss of £6.3bn loss last year but has started this year strongly. It said in a statement: “In the first 10 weeks [...]
Blacks turns down bid from Sports Direct March 19, 2010 BLACKS Leisure has turned down a takeover offer from Sports Direct, branding it “wholly inadequate”. Sports Direct, which owns brands including Dunlop and Slazenger, had offered 62 pence per share. The Blacks group includes Millets and Freespirit as well as the Blacks shops and has recently closed 87 shops as part of a cost-cutting programme. [...]
Prudential chief shuns Société Générale role March 18, 2010 PRUDENTIAL chief executive Tidjane Thiam has said he won’t join the board of French bank Société Générale. The U-turn came after some investors questioned his plans to take the job as the Prudential is in the middle of a massive takeover deal for the Asian arm of US insurer American international Group for $35.5bn. Société [...]
Nissan to build electric fleet in UK March 18, 2010 NISSAN will begin building the Leaf electric compact car at its Sunderland plant from early 2013, securing hundreds of jobs. The site will start with annual production capacity 50,000 of the zero-emission vehicles. The investment is backed by a £20.7m government grant and up to £220m from the European Investment Bank. Nissan’s move is part [...]
Public borrowing lower than forecasts March 18, 2010 BRITAIN’S public sector borrowing rose to its highest for a February on record but by less than economists had forecast, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that net borrowing was £12.361bn – below forecasts of £14.75bn. Meanwhile tax receipts rose by 3.6 per cent – the largest jump since April [...]
Co-op profits surge after Somerfield deal March 18, 2010 THE Co-operative group is to pay a bumper dividend after its profits jumped 85 per cent in 2009. Buying Somerfield helped the Co-op record a £402m profit while revenues surged by almost a third. Dividends totalling £55m will be dished out to its members as a result of the profits hike. The group merged its [...]
Savills profits dive but London market rebounds March 18, 2010 PROPERTY agent Savills has seen profit plummet by almost a quarter and predicted more turbulence in the market this year. Pre-tax underlying profit in 2009 was £25.2m compared with £33.2m a year earlier, despite a slight improvement in the fourth quarter fuelled by the London residential property market. Chief executive Jeremy Helsby said: “Notwithstanding the [...]
