Chairman to leave National Express in 2013 July 26, 2012 NATIONAL Express is on the hunt for a new chairman, after John Daveney announced his retirement yesterday. The firm, which reported a 14 per cent slump in half-year profits after ditching the East Anglia rail franchise, said Devaney will retire in early 2013 to focus on his other roles at Cobham, NATS and in private [...]
TalkTalk battles Sky with pay-TV service July 26, 2012 BUDGET broadband provider TalkTalk bid to take on Sky, Virgin Media and BT yesterday as it unveiled plans to launch a pay-TV service in tandem with the newly released YouView set-top box. The company also appointed Sony chairman Sir Howard Stringer to its board as it said it lost 19,000 customers in the quarter to [...]
BAA loses another appeal in its fight to keep Stansted Airport July 26, 2012 BAA has pledged to fight on in its attempts to keep Stansted Airport, despite losing a Court of Appeal hearing yesterday. Judges yesterday upheld the Competition Commission’s 2009 ruling that BAA exerted a dominant hold on airports in Scotland and south east England. BAA, which also owns Heathrow, sold off Edinburgh Airport in April but [...]
Acquisitions lift Intertek profit July 26, 2012 Testing company Intertek Group reported a 27 per cent rise in profit for the first half of the year, helped by acquisitions and strong demand for its services. Intertek said it expects high-single-digit revenue growth for the rest of the year. Pre-tax profit rose to £140m from £110.6m a year earlier.
QinetiQ has solid first quarter July 26, 2012 Defence technology firm QinetiQ said yesterday first-quarter trade had been solid but warned that it could be hit by contract delays caused by the US elections. QinetiQ, which makes military equipment such as bomb disposal robots, said uncertainty over defence spending was reducing in the UK, but conditions in the US were unpredictable.
Volkwagen’s earning growth slows July 26, 2012 Germany’s Volkswagen suffered a slowdown in underlying profit growth in the second quarter, as costs of a technology overhaul and Europe’s deepening debt crisis weighed on the carmaker’s earnings. Operating profit grew 3.4 per cent to £2.56bn, less than the 10 per cent achieved in the first quarter.
L’Oreal sees strong luxury sales July 26, 2012 France’s L’Oreal, the world’s biggest cosmetics maker, yesterday reiterated it was on track to outperform its market in 2012 after second-quarter sales grew 5.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Strong luxury sales and a recovering North American market have helped L’Oreal offset stagnation in Western Europe.
US corporate results round-up July 26, 2012 Cost-cutting boosts 3M 3M, the manufacturer of Post-It notes and scotch tape, yesterday reported second quarter profit slightly higher than expected as cost-cutting offset a revenue shortfall. 3M earned $1.17bn, or $1.66 per share, compared with $1.16bn or $1.60 per share, a year earlier. Expedia income falls SECOND-QUARTER profit at travel firm Expedia fell 25 [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 26, 2012 Saxo Capital Markets UK Nick Beecroft has been appointed chairman of Saxo Bank’s UK online trading subsidiary. He has worked at the firm since 2009, most recently as senior markets analyst. Beecroft has over 30 years’ experience in international trading, and has also held roles at Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank. Speechly Bircham James Trafford [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 26, 2012 BTG Peel Hunt has moved the healthcare specialist from Hold to Sell, shifting the target price from 350p to 340p. BTG has doubled its share price since mid 2008 and Peel Hunt says now is the time to take profits. CAPCO UBS has changed its advice from Buy to Neutral for the property company with [...]
