EMH bucks car sales trend October 27, 2005 Car dealership European Motor Holdings (EMH) outperformed the market in the first half despite a sluggish demand for new cars from cash strapped consumers. EMH said the number of new cars sold at its franchises increased marginally over the period despite a 6 per cent fall in the registrations of new cars in Britain during [...]
First Choice is buoyed by determined sunseekers October 27, 2005 Travel operator First Choice said its business had not been stymied by the high street spending slowdown as customers were scrimping to ensure they could still “get away from it all”. “Fundamentally there is a very strong demand for travel experiences,” said First Choice chief executive Peter Long. “When I feel good I trade up, [...]
Relief at CAT Abbott deal October 27, 2005 Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT) has reached an agreement with American pharmaceutical firm Abbott about how much it should get in royalties from the sale of the blockbuster arthritis drug Humira. The deal, which sent shares in the loss-making British biopharmaceutical company up almost 4 per cent, has headed off a Court of Appeal’s case scheduled [...]
Five join the rush to AIM October 27, 2005 The rush of companies floating on AIM continues apace, with three companies making their debuts yesterday and two more announcing their IPOs on the junior market in the coming days. They join the growing number of companies quoting on AIM, where 389 firms have floated since the start of the year. In comparison, only 71 [...]
Another bidder enters Refco lists October 27, 2005 The race to take over the futures business of collapsed broker Refco hotted up as another group emerged as a possible bidder. TradeLink, a Chicago-based futures commission merchant, its co-founder, Walt Weissman, and Nickolas Neubauer, a member of the board of directors of the Chicago Board of Trade, are forming an investor group to consider [...]
Anglo investors share $1bn return October 27, 2005 The world’s third-largest mining company Anglo American revealed a plan yesterday to return $1bn (£560m) to investors in 2006. CEO Tony Trahar said: “Through a series of measures we are creating a more focused mining group.” As part of the wide-ranging review Anglo is to cut its 51 per cent stake in gold producer AngloGold [...]
Prudential decides to keep Egg October 27, 2005 The CEO of Prudential yesterday vowed to work on closer integration of three key businesses as he revealed results of a long-awaited strategy review. Mark Tucker said the insurer planned to integrate M&G more closely with online bank Egg and the British insurance business, raising the prospect of job cuts. He said that closer integration [...]
Jobs cutting will speed up, says CBI October 27, 2005 Manufactures expect to cut jobs over the next quarter at a faster rate than the last three months to October, according to the CBI. “The decline in headcount was broadly in line with expectations, though firms expect to cut jobs at a moderately faster rate over the next three months,” the business group announced in [...]
Debt crisis looms as home repossessions rise October 27, 2005 Fears that Britain is plunging towards a bad debt crisis were heightened yesterday as figures suggested proceedings to repossess homes have risen by 55 per cent. Actions begun by lenders rose to 29,991 in the three months to the end of September from 19,359 last year. There has been a 66 per cent rise in [...]
Beans means trouble in HP Foods sale October 27, 2005 Fears that the price of traditional British foods including baked beans, tomato ketchup and HP Sauce could rise has forced the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to refer the sale of HP Foods to the Competition Commission. Director of competition enforcement at the OFT Vincent Smith said the sale of the Danone-owned sauce business to [...]
