DS Smith says £1.3bn deal not affected by accounting probe December 17, 2012 BRITISH packaging company DS Smith yesterday insisted its £1.3bn takeover of Sweden’s SCA Packaging is on track. FTSE 250-listed DS Smith took control of its competitor in June, but the completion accounts have still not being signed off and the firm is understood be disputing the final purchase price. Reports suggest DS Smith is seeking [...]
Oligarchs make peace over the world’s largest nickel producer December 17, 2012 NORILSK Nickel named longtime co-owner Vladimir Potanin as its chief executive yesterday under a Kremlin-inspired deal to end a boardroom war at the world’s top nickel and palladium producer. Roman Abramovich will take control of a 20 per cent voting stake and act as a buffer between Potanin and rival Oleg Deripaska, who owns a [...]
BP sells stake in North Sea gas field for £178m December 17, 2012 OIL major BP yesterday announced it was to sell its interest in a North Sea gas field to SSE for $288m (£178m) in cash. Completion of the deal, to sell BP’s non-operated 50 per cent stake in the Sean gas field, is expected in the first half of next year. Sean, located in the Southern [...]
Cookson Group split takes effect on LSE December 17, 2012 INDUSTRIAL materials supplier Cookson yesterday confirmed that its demerger had become effective, splitting the company into two separate divisions and getting rid of the Cookson name. In line with the terms of the demerger, Cookson shares were cancelled yesterday morning. As proposed at the start of November, the FTSE 250 listed firm said it would [...]
Imagination finally lands chip firm MIPS after bidding frenzy December 17, 2012 BRITISH chip designer Imagination Technologies has finally won the bidding for US-based company MIPS, in a deal that will speed up its entry into the fast-growing processor industry. The company agreed a $100m (£61.7m) price for MIPS yesterday, and bidding rival CEVA said it would not up its offer. The agreed price comes after a [...]
China snaps up iPhone 5s but shares wobble December 17, 2012 APPLE sold more than two million iPhone 5s in China in its first weekend on sale in the country, it emerged yesterday, but the company was knocked by its share price sinking during the day’s trading. Despite the record launch in China, which is expected to become Apple’s biggest market in the near-future, Apple stock [...]
Retailer H&M’s like-for-likes ease worries December 17, 2012 SWEDISH clothing giant, Hennes & Mauritz yesterday posted a smaller than expected drop in like-for-like sales for November compared to same month last year, easing fears of large markdowns to reduce unsold stock amid weak demand in key markets. The retailer said local-currency sales at stores open a year or more shrank one per cent [...]
Agent Provocateur figures lifted December 17, 2012 Luxury lingerie firm Agent Provocateur saw sales increase 18 per cent in the year to 26 March, with figures boosted by shop openings in cities such as Amsterdam, Madrid and Rome. Turnover rose from £26.7m to £31.4m, while net earnings grew from £3.3m to £4.1m, an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year.
UK population growth fastest since the 1950s December 17, 2012 THE UK population has grown at its fastest pace since the post-war baby boom in the past decade, according to the 2011 census figures out yesterday. On census night, there were 63,181,775 people living in the United Kingdom, the Office for National Statistics said. The country has gained a net 4.1m people, or almost seven [...]
First-timers to be kept locked out of 2013 mortgage market December 17, 2012 MORTGAGE lenders will focus their attention on the safer, low loan-to-value (LTV) end of the credit market during 2013, research showed yesterday. Lenders will conserve their precious capital and boost their lending in the remortgage market, which will grow a quarter from around 310,000 transactions this year to almost 400,000 next year, according to data [...]
