EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED AS MARK HIX MOVES INTO BELGRAVES HOTEL December 12, 2011 THE RUMOURS have been swirling around the leisure industry for months, and Thompson Hotels yesterday confirmed that chef Mark Hix will run the restaurant and bar at its new hotel launch Belgraves, due to open in January. The 80-seat Hix Belgravia, the chef’s fourth restaurant, will offer a menu inspired by his travels around the [...]
CSR cuts off loss-making digital arm December 12, 2011 COMPUTER chip manufacturer CSR was the highest riser in the FTSE 250 yesterday after the company announced its intent to pull out of its loss-making digital television and silicon tuner businesses. Shares rose by as much as 15 per cent before closing up 10 per cent at 183p. The move, which will save the chip [...]
CITY VIEWS: WHAT ARE THE MOST DESIRABLE TECH ITEMS THIS CHRISTMAS? December 12, 2011 KENNY BHATTI EGLIN HOLDINGS “I will be looking to buy Apple products like the Mac book pro or the LED cinema display, which is better to work with and watch films. I am also waiting for Apple around February to release its television.” JESSICA REEVES LEAP CR “I don’t have any requests per say for [...]
Martin Marietta bids for Vulcan December 12, 2011 Construction aggregates maker Martin Marietta Materials has made an unsolicited $5bn offer to buy larger rival Vulcan Materials in stock, in a bid to create the global leader in the industry. The companies began considering a deal more than a year and a half ago, but Vulcan broke off talks in recent months. CJS Securities [...]
Thyssen sells superyacht business December 12, 2011 ThyssenKrupp has sold its Blohm + Voss superyacht and two other marine units to British buyout firm Star Capital, in a deal worth up to €150m, as the German steelmaker focuses instead on building military vessels. The sale is part of the company’s €10bn divestment plan begun this year to lower its debt, including a [...]
OFT tobacco fines overturned December 12, 2011 Imperial Tobacco and several leading retailers have won a court battle to overturn record fines imposed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over allegations of unlawful pricing. A fine of £112.3m handed down to Imperial Tobacco last year was reversed, while Morrisons, Asda, Co-Op and Shell also had cases against them overturned by the [...]
Areva halts trading over nuclear loss December 12, 2011 SHARES in Areva France’s state-owned nuclear energy company were suspended in Paris yesterday after losses associated with the Fukushima crisis in Japan took their toll. The nuclear reactor maker had been expected to take heavy writedowns related to cancellation of orders. The declining value of UraMin, a Canadian uranium miner bought by Areva in 2007 [...]
Svanberg plans to keep BP chair as he takes on new role at Volvo December 12, 2011 BP is over the worst phase of its problems after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg (right) claimed yesterday, clearing the way for him to lead the board at world number two truck maker Volvo. The Volvo nomination committee said in a statement it had backed Svanberg to head the board at [...]
Gulfsands shuts down its Syria project amid unrest December 12, 2011 UK-LISTED explorer Gulfsands Petroleum and Chinese company Sinochem have shut down their oil operations in Syria following European Union sanctions related to the crackdown on the uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, Gulfsands said. Although China has resisted sanctions on Syria, Sinochem is bound by EU sanctions since it bought its interest in [...]
E.ON lowers profit range on charges December 12, 2011 GERMAN utility group E.ON will bear a €3bn (£2.6bn) charge in its 2011 accounts as large Eurozone countries such as Spain and Italy intervened to lower prices, it said yesterday. E.ON, the world’s biggest utility company by sales, said the charge would damage its overall net profits, and lowered the top end of its profit [...]
