Pets at Home snapped up for nearly £1bn by KKR January 27, 2010 PETS at Home was snapped up by private equity firm KKR yesterday in a deal worth an astonishing £955m. The sum was well above the £800m being touted by analysts in the lead up to the acquisition. KKR beat stiff competition from Apax Partners, Bain and TPG, who had all tabled offers in the second [...]
Rusal off to a slippery start January 27, 2010 RUSAL, the Russian aluminium producer owned by oligarch Oleg Deripaska, suffered a rough debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday after its $2.2bn (£1.4bn) float. The company’s shares tumbled 11 per cent to HK$9.66 from their listing price of HK$10.80. Analysts attributed the poor performance to market worries over Rusal’s $14.9bn debt pile and [...]
Red dragon breathes IPOs as Bric issues boom in January January 27, 2010 CHINESE companies have dominated this year’s initial public offerings in key emerging markets, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. More than 65 per cent of IPOs in Brazil, India and China in 2010 have come from the far east. China Electric’s $1.5bn (£930m) share issue on 20 January led the way among Chinese companies, [...]
Johnson Matthey trading is better than expected January 27, 2010 JOHNSON Matthey, the speciality chemicals maker, yesterday said that underlying profit in its third quarter was up 20 per cent on last year thanks to reduced costs. The firm, which makes a third of the world’s catalysts for cars, said trading conditions had stabilised with sales excluding precious metals up some nine per cent. Profits [...]
WH Smith is still upbeat in spite of drop in sales January 27, 2010 WH SMITH yesterday reported a four per cent drop in group like-for-like sales as customers bought fewer books. The figures for the 21 weeks to last weekend showed that the retailer’s High Street stores saw a comparative sales fall of five per cent while sales at its travel-based outlets dipped by two per cent. WH [...]
Greene King warns of a difficult year ahead but eyes food market January 27, 2010 GREENE KING may have managed to weather the worst of January’s snow storms, but the integrated pub and brewery giant expects the rest of 2010 to prove even tougher. For the 38 weeks to 24 January 2010, the Suffolk-based pub chain yesterday reported an overall 4.3 per cent growth in sales, despite a three week [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW ROSY IS THE OUTLOOK FOR GREENE KING? January 27, 2010 MARK BRUMBY | ASTAIRE SECURITIES “Greene King is performing strongly. There is a note of caution regarding the remainder of the year, but the group is confident it will hit targets. The economic environment is uncertain and the employment outlook in Scotland is set to worsen but Greene King, which trades at ten times earnings, [...]
Davos delegates call for single set of regulations January 27, 2010 TOP bankers took a swipe yesterday at US and British moves to tighten regulation of their activities and pay, saying one set of rules were needed to govern the global banking industry. The Group of 20 leading nations have attempted to address the financial crisis through a common global approach, but policymakers came under fire [...]
Warning financial crackdown could crimp recovery hopes January 27, 2010 GLOBAL business leaders yesterday warned Western governments that a populist crackdown on the financial industry could crimp a fragile recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s. The worried response to US President Barack Obama’s plans to curb big banks and a British assault on bankers’ pay came as 2,500 business leaders and policy makers [...]
Survey highlights shortfall in trust January 27, 2010 TWO-THIRDS of people around the world think the global economic crisis is also a crisis of ethical values that calls for more honesty, transparency and respect for others, according to a World Economic Forum poll. Almost as many name business as the sector that should stress values more to foster a better world, said the [...]
