Dialight gets lift as profit grows July 23, 2012 Shares in lighting products maker Dialight soared yesterday after it reported a 21 per cent increase in operating profit for the first half, and forecast full-year results at the higher end of market expectations. Group revenue climbed 18.2 per cent to £61.1m while pre-tax profits rose to £8.3m from £6.2m. Shares closed up 5.22 per [...]
Amplats cuts production target July 23, 2012 Anglo American Platinum, the world’s top platinum producer, said yesterday it was reducing its full-year production and project spending targets, hit by chronic weakness in prices and demand for the precious metal. The miner also reported an expected 78 per cent drop in interim profit. The miner further cut its refined production target for 2012 [...]
Senior gets boost from airlines July 23, 2012 Aero engineer Senior reported a 20 per cent increase in first-half profit yesterday as customers such as Boeing and Airbus ramped up build rates to meet hefty order backlogs. The company raised its interim dividend 20 per cent to 1.38p per share. The company’s adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £45.5m for January-June from £38m a [...]
US corporate results round-up July 23, 2012 Slowing economy hurts McDonald’s FAST-FOOD chain McDonald’s reported lower than expected quarterly profit yesterday, hurt by a slowing global economy and the impact of a stronger dollar. The company said that net income fell 4.5 per cent to $1.35bn (£870m), and the impact of the stronger dollar ate into earnings in the latest quarter, while [...]
Protest vote for Quintain non-exec July 23, 2012 Shareholders at Quintain yesterday approved a new joint venture with Hong Kong investor Henry Cheng Kar-Shun to develop its Greenwich Peninsula site. The developer saw all its motions almost unanimously approved at its annual general meeting, the only exception being a 17.5 per cent vote against the re-election of its long standing non-executive director Martin [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 23, 2012 Taylor Wessing Alix Prentice has been appointed partner in the law firm’s financial services regulatory team. She joins from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where she was special counsel in its financial services group. Prentice has also worked for the Financial Services Authority. Allianz Global Investors Corinne Crawford has been appointed director in the European consultant relations [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 23, 2012 HOME RETAIL Numis has moved the owner of Argos and Homebase from “sell” to “add” citing an improvement in the electricals market following the digital switchover and latest iPad launch. STAGECOACH Jefferies has upgraded the transport firm from “hold” to “buy” and upped its price target to 335p, calling the stock “the default choice in [...]
FTSE plummets into red territory for 2012 as Europe worries return July 23, 2012 BRITAIN’S top share index plunged yesterday to its lowest level in three weeks and fell back into the red for the year as fresh Eurozone worries hit banks across the continent, while technical charts pointed to further weakness over the summer. Eurozone concerns focused on Spain, whose ten-year sovereign bond yields spiked to more than [...]
Stocks suffer from euro fear on Wall Street July 23, 2012 US STOCKS fell for a second straight session yesterday, as Spain appeared closer to needing a national bailout and poor corporate results weighed on the market. Weak results from McDonald’s added to the cautious tone on Wall Street. Materials stocks were among the day’s weakest, hurt by across-the-board declines in commodities prices. Still, stocks ended [...]
UK energy policies are sabotaging industry’s global competitiveness July 23, 2012 THE revelation that George Osborne wants fossil fuels to remain a key and important supplier of Britain’s electricity generation shows he can talk the talk. But the chancellor will struggle to give legs to his policy. His statement comes immediately unstuck when you consider how the Treasury is preparing to lump huge taxes on such [...]
