Avon slumps on bribery inquiry October 27, 2011 US REGULATORS are formally investigating whether Avon broke bribery laws overseas, and the cosmetics company has said it was again reassessing its strategy after quarterly profit fell far short of market expectations. Avon’s third-quarter profit fell to $164.2m, or 38 cents per share, from $166.7m, or 38 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose [...]
Evercore raises quarter dividend October 27, 2011 EVERCORE Partners’ quarterly earnings topped expectations yesterday as the boutique investment bank earned more fees from advising clients despite a tepid merger market. The company also raised its quarterly dividend by 11 per cent to 20 cents a share, effective in the fourth quarter. On an adjusted, pro-forma basis, the firm earned 46 cents a [...]
Investec bid for Evolution gets yes vote October 27, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS of broker-turned-wealth manager Evolution Group voted firmly in favour of its sale to South African investment group Investec yesterday despite concerns over the real price of the deal. Nearly 95 per cent of shareholders that chose to vote gave the takeover the green light, despite a ten per cent drop in the value of [...]
Simon Lee steps up to lead RSA ahead of time October 27, 2011 SIMON Lee, the well-regarded international head of insurance group Royal Sun Alliance, will step up to the post of group chief executive next Tuesday, two months earlier than originally announced. Lee replaces Andy Haste, who has led RSA since 2003 and overseen a period of strong growth and profitability at the home and motor insurer. [...]
Axa shares up despite 9pc fall in life revenues October 27, 2011 FRANCE’S biggest insurer, Axa, said its life and savings division had been hit by the slowing global economy but said its UK pensions business was growing fast yesterday. Axa said life and savings revenues, which make up the lion’s share of its business, fell 9.3 per cent to €39.8bn (£24.9bn) in the first nine months [...]
Ivell takes on a new exec role at M&B October 27, 2011 BOB IVELL was yesterday confirmed as executive chairman of Mitchells & Butlers as interim chief executive Jeremy Blood stepped down, following a bruising period when largest shareholder Joe Lewis made an aborted takeover attempt. The shake-up brings the number of board-level changes in the last four years to nine, with six chairmen and three chief [...]
All this pub firm needs is some stability October 27, 2011 TO BE honest, my eight-year old nephew could become executive chairman of Mitchells & Butlers and the pubs firm would enjoy more stability than it has in recent years. This is the ninth change in either chief executive or chairman in the last four years. Hopefully Bob Ivell will stick around for longer than his [...]
Chinese M&A in Europe soars October 27, 2011 CHINESE companies have bought a record number of European targets so far this year, taking their total spending on M&A to $12.1bn (£7.6bn), data from Dealogic yesterday showed. Chinese companies made 64 European mergers and acquisitions in the first nine months of this year, up from 47 in the whole of 2010. German companies were [...]
APR sees 64pc revenue jump October 27, 2011 TEMPORARY power provider APR delivered a bullish trading update yesterday, saying it saw growth accelerate in the past quarter with revenues up 63.5 per cent to $57.5m (£35.7m). APR, which only re-listed in June after being taken over by Hugh Osmond’s Horizon vehicle, signed a new agreement to supply turbines to engineering group Pratt & [...]
London 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK October 27, 2011 LONDON 2012 | OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC VILLAGE With the announcement that more than 2,012 of the athletes’ apartments have now been completed, culture and Olympics secretary Jeremy Hunt visited the construction site to see the progress. After the Games, the apartments will be adapted for permanent use, creating 2,818 new homes. Between now and the [...]
