Diageo calls shots over tequila December 11, 2012 JOSE Cuervo isn’t on the rocks, but losing its distribution deal with drinks giant Diageo must be a blow. Yet, like the notorious tequila hangover, it shows every sign of being a self-inflicted injury. Negotiations between Diageo and the Beckmann family, which owns the tequila brand, are understood to have been ongoing for well over [...]
Sunbelt shines on Ashtead as it raises its annual profit forecasts December 11, 2012 INDUSTRIAL equipment hire firm Ashtead yesterday posted record first-half profit of £141m, as it lifted its profit expectations for the full year. First-half profit for Ashtead, which makes 85 per cent of its revenue from US arm Sunbelt, was up 64 per cent from £84m over the same period last year. Strong growth on rents [...]
Go-Ahead Group confident it will arrive at full-year forecast December 11, 2012 PUBLIC transport group Go-Ahead Group yesterday said it was confident of meeting forecasted full-year figures, after a welcome boost from the Olympics. In a trading update for the six months ending 29 December, the company said both its rail and bus divisions had delivered a “robust” performance, despite difficult economic times, and expectations for the [...]
Peugeot plans more job losses December 11, 2012 Peugeot will eliminate an additional 1,500 French jobs by 2014, on top of the previously announced 8,000 layoffs, the French car maker told trade union representatives yesterday. The job reductions will be achieved through non-replacement of workers who will be leaving the company or retiring rather than compulsory redundancies, a spokesman said after a meeting [...]
Sales edge up at Victrex December 11, 2012 Sales at polymer manufacturer Victrex edged up over the year to September, it said yesterday. Revenue rose two per cent to £219.8m over the 12 months in what chairman Anita Frew labelled a “challenging economic environment”. Good growth in its Victrex Polymer Solutions business and growth in developing markets of its biomaterial solution business Invibio [...]
Polymetal buys Olcha deposit December 11, 2012 Russian gold producer Polymetal yesterday acquired the Olcha gold-silver deposit licence, which covers 2.5 square kilometres in the Far East of Russia, from junior stock market listed Ovoca Gold in exchange for 775,000 ordinary shares in Polymetal. Chief executive Vitaly Nesis said yesterday that the acquisition of the deposit marks a “natural extension” of its [...]
Insurance firms fight bank-style rules on capital December 11, 2012 LARGE insurance companies do not pose the same threat to global economy as big banks and should not be designated as systemically important financial institutions, according to a study published yesterday by the Geneva Association, an industry-funded think tank. Global regulators plan to impose stricter capital rules on banks in order to avoid a repeat [...]
Whiplash claims crackdown to push down cost of premiums December 11, 2012 DRIVERS will find it harder to make fraudulent insurance claims for whiplash injuries, thanks to new proposals that the government says should drive down the cost of motoring. Proposals unveiled yesterday include independent medical assessments of whiplash claimants to ascertain which injuries are real. In addition, most whiplash claims would be dealt with in the small [...]
Bombardier wins £106m work to maintain West Coast trains December 11, 2012 CANADIAN train-maker Bombardier has won a £106m contract to maintain Virgin Trains’ Super Voyager fleet on the West Coast Main Line until March 2016. Bombardier will maintain the trains at its Staffordshire depot. The contract extension is a boon for its UK staff, after the firm last year lost its bid for train work on [...]
Heseltine says civil servants in Whitehall hold back growth December 11, 2012 FORMER Deputy Prime Minister Lord Heseltine yesterday said many civil servants are “amateur” and suggested Whitehall’s structure is restraining economic growth. “The official world is largely a generalist civil service without expertise and without experience outside their own activities,” he said. “There is a great need for much more professional expertise in the civil service. No one [...]
