Eurozone factory prices drop ahead of rate-setter meeting January 7, 2013 EUROZONE factory prices fell for the first time in five months in November, pulled down by a slide in the cost of energy and giving the European Central Bank ample room to consider another interest rate cut. Prices at factory gates in the 17 countries using the euro fell 0.2 per cent in November from [...]
Newer models aid Jaguar Land Rover UK sales January 7, 2013 JAGUAR Land Rover has enjoyed a record year for UK car sales and is gearing up for new launches in 2013. The firm yesterday said UK sales rose 19.7 per cent to 68,586 vehicles last year. The Land Rover brand posted its best-ever year in the UK, selling 54,480 vehicles, up 25 per cent on [...]
Minister says civil service rail mistakes were not deliberate January 7, 2013 CIVIL servants did not intentionally deceive ministers during the botched West Coast Main Line rail franchise contest, the transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said yesterday. “No I don’t think ministers were deliberately misled but… some of it was not the proper workmanship that one would expect from the civil service,” he told the transport select committee. [...]
HgCapital snaps up UK car parts firms for expansion January 7, 2013 LONDON based private equity firm HgCapital is eyeing plans to create a national network of car parts distributors after kicking off a spending spree on small independent outfits across the UK. The business has just completed its fourth separate investment in a car parts distributor in as many months, after taking a stake in GMF [...]
Diageo’s open offer for United Spirits delayed January 7, 2013 UK DRINKS group Diageo’s mandatory tender offer to buy up to 26 per cent of shares in India’s United Spirits has been postponed as the deal has yet to receive local regulatory approvals, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Diageo agreed in November to buy a 53.4 per cent stake in [...]
Europe’s IPO hopes for 2013 boosted by LEG’s plan to list January 7, 2013 GERMAN residential property group LEG is planning to list its shares on the stock market within six months in a sign that a recent pick up in IPO activity in Europe is likely to continue. The share sale, which could be worth around €1bn (£814m), would be a positive step for an IPO market which [...]
Christmas rush helps UK airlines end the year with rising traffic January 7, 2013 THE CHRISTMAS getaway has pushed up ticket sales at some of the country’s biggest airlines, according to figures out yesterday. EasyJet said traffic rose 4.9 per cent on a year ago to 4.34m in December. Its load factor – a measure of how much the firm fills its planes – rose 2.3 percentage points to [...]
St Modwen and Vinci sign New Covent Garden Market contract January 7, 2013 ST MODWEN and joint venture partner Vinci yesterday signed a contract with the New Covent Garden Market Authority for the £2bn regeneration of Britain’s biggest flower and vegetable market. The project will see the complete overhaul of the 57-acre site, including 550,000 square feet of new facilities to house the market’s 200 businesses and 2,500 [...]
Serco wins £100m extension to Docklands Light Railway work January 7, 2013 SERVICES company Serco has won an 18-month extension to its Docklands Light Railway (DLR) contract, worth around £100m, following a landmark summer for the transport system. The extended contract will run from April this year to September 2014 and will involve Serco operating, maintaining and marketing the DLR, which connects the City and the Docklands. [...]
City Views | Do you think the coalition relaunch will succeed? January 7, 2013 DAN BROWN LOGICALIS Any advertising is good advertising at the moment for the coalition. I guess it is about showing unity and affirming they are still together, and the purpose is internally just as much as an external target audience. I would like them to announce that the deficit is going down, and a reaffirmation [...]
