Cisco purchases NDS for $5bn March 15, 2012 Cisco Systems has reached a $5bn (£3.2bn) deal today to buy British digital video firm NDS, currently owned by a private equity firm Permira and News Corp. NDS offers technology used in BSkyB in its set-top box software, and would be one of Cisco’s biggest acquisitions. The purchase price of NDS was 35 per cent [...]
Ireland set to become oil producer March 15, 2012 Ireland may have discovered its first commercially viable oil well, 70km off the coast of southern Ireland. Providence Resources, operator of the Barryroe Well, reported today that it had found twice the amount of oil needed to hit the commercial target threshold. The company reported flow rates of nearly 3,500 barrels of oil per day, [...]
Sales drop at owner of Argos and Homebase March 15, 2012 Home Retail, the owner of Argos and Homebase, reported a big drop in sales in the eight weeks to 25 February, sending shares down 0.6 per cent. Argos sales decreased 8.5 per cent, while like-for-like sales at Homebase dropped 6.5 per cent, worse than the full year decline of 2 per cent. Despite this Home [...]
US economy adds 227,000 jobs in February March 9, 2012 The US economy added 227,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate remained at 8.3 per cent, official figures showed. This is the first time since early 2011 that payrolls have grown by more than 200,000 – a sign the economic recovery was broadening and in less need of stimulus from the Federal Reserve. The [...]
Williams team reports earnings rise March 9, 2012 Motor-racing company, remains in good shape financially with a strong increase in turnover and net profit despite the team’s worst season on the track in Formula One. Chairman Adam Parr said the former champions are financially stable and hoping to perform better in races as well, even without a title sponsor after the departure of [...]
UK industrial output falls March 9, 2012 British industrial output suffered a shock fall in January, raising doubts about whether the economy will rebound after contracting at the end of 2011. The Office for National Statistics said that industrial output fell 0.4 per cent in January after a 0.4 percent rise in December, confounding economists’ forecasts for a 0.3 per cent rise. [...]
China inflation falls as economy slows March 9, 2012 China’s annual consumer inflation slowed sharply to a 20-month low of 3.2 per cent in February, staying comfortably within Beijing’s 2012 target and giving policymakers ample room to further loosen monetary policy to support flagging growth. Easing price pressures will allow the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) to continue reducing level of the cash commercial [...]
LSE in £389m swoop for Clearnet March 9, 2012 – The London Stock Exchange is to buy a majority stake in clearing house LCH.Clearnet for up to 463 million euros (£389m) in a critical move by its boss Xavier Rolet after his failure to land a merger with Toronto’s stock exchange. The LSE said on Friday it will buy up to 60 percent of [...]
Weatherspoon blames tax as expansion plans cut March 9, 2012 British pubs operator JD Wetherspoon said it would cut back expansion plans, blaming a harsh tax regime for exacerbating tough trading conditions, and was cautious about prospects for the second half following a decline in sales. The company, which has over 800 pubs across Britain, said it would scale back new openings to 40 pubs [...]
Interest rates frozen at 0.5pc March 8, 2012 The Bank of England has frozen interest rates at 0.5 per cent. The monetary policy committee (MPC) also decided to make no change to its quantitative easing (QE) programme. Last month it announced £50bn more QE – taking the total stimulus to £325bn.
