Weir sells LGE to Babcock for £23m January 2, 2013 Engineer Babcock has acquired a liquid gas services company from the Weir Group for £23m, it said yesterday. LGE Process, which designs and builds plants for the processing, storage and handling of liquid gases, will be combined with Babcock’s design services business unit. In the year to December LGE posted gross revenue of £26.3m, Babcock [...]
Kingfisher loses flying licence January 2, 2013 Troubled airline Kingfisher has suffered another blow, after the Indian government’s aviation authorities refused to renew the company’s flying licence. Kingfisher Airlines was told to pay employees their past-due salaries before a new permit will be granted. The carrier has not left the ground since October, when its engineers and pilots went on strike. The [...]
UK firms look to more upbeat 2013 economy January 2, 2013 BUSINESS expects the UK’s bumpy economic ride to stabilise into growth during 2013, according to two surveys out this morning. Company directors are far more optimistic than 12 months ago, according to a poll from the Institute of Directors (IoD). The number of directors who thought 2013 would be better than 2012 surged ahead of [...]
Manufacturing picks up in India and China January 2, 2013 INDIAN and Chinese factories dialled their activity up a notch as 2012 came to a close, but similar rises were not enjoyed across the rest of Asia. India’s manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to 54.7 in December, from 53.7 in November, Markit data revealed yesterday. As this value is further above 50, it signals [...]
Best of the Brokers January 2, 2013 DOMINO’S PIZZA Numis upgraded the takeaway pizza business to “buy” from “add” and keeps its target of 625p, believing the company is likely to generate strong growth in 2013. Numis expects to see new developments, such as a gluten free menu and higher ecommerce advertising, greater expansion with new stores in the UK and the [...]
FTSE hits highest level in 17 months as smashes through 6,000 barrier January 2, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index raced through the 6,000 level for the first time in 17 months yesterday boosted by a last-minute budget deal in the United States and solid global PMI data. London’s blue chip index closed up 129.56 points, or 2.2 per cent at 6,027.37, bettering the average return on the first day of [...]
Fiscal cliff deal sparks a new year rally in US January 2, 2013 US stocks kicked off the new year with their best day in over a year yesterday, sparked by relief over a last-minute deal in Washington to avert the “fiscal cliff” of tax hikes and spending cuts that threatened to derail the economy’s growth. In 2013’s first trading session, the S&P 500 achieved its biggest one-day [...]
Fiscal cliff deal is no grand bargain to save the US from growing debts January 2, 2013 WHILE revellers in New York greeted 2013 with renditions of Auld Lang Syne, Washington reflected on a year of fierce partisanship and brutal campaigning. But as the country welcomed in the New Year, so too came hopes of a new era of bipartisan co-operation, after a cross-party agreement passed the House of Representatives and the [...]
London’s burgeoning skyline will complement expansion underground January 2, 2013 LONDON is emerging from recession as a beacon of hope for future British growth. It has the right mix of talents – in technology, creative industries, and finance – to establish a new benchmark for the few world cities that will dominate the next half-century. But it can also learn from past achievements to build [...]
Fiscal honesty has emerged from the US deficit debates January 2, 2013 MILLIONS of words have been written over the last few days about the US fiscal cliff. But few have regarded this long, slow and frankly tedious political process as in any way positive. I disagree. The drawn-out debate that preceded this week’s agreement is likely to be the best way for America to resolve its [...]
