Barclays invests in Namibia June 7, 2012 Barclays plans to buy a 49.9 per cent stake in Namibia’s second-largest lender by assets, Bank Windhoek, the country’s central bank said yesterday, in a deal that gives the British lender a presence in the south-western African country. The value of the potential deal had not been determined as Barclays was yet to start talks [...]
EU waits for Google response June 7, 2012 Google has yet to offer EU regulators concessions to address concerns it may have abused its market dominance, the EU’s antitrust chief said yesterday. Nearly three weeks ago, competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia offered Google a chance to settle the probe and avoid a fine that could reach up to 10 per cent of the company’s [...]
Network Rail increases profit but debts soar June 7, 2012 NETWORK RAIL saw profits after tax almost double in the year to the end of March, but debt soared by £2.2bn after major projects such as the Thameslink programme put pressure on funds. The company, which owns most of Britain’s rail network infrastructure, said that profit after tax rose to £754m in the period from [...]
Airline traffic growth is knocked off course by Eurozone worries June 7, 2012 IAG, the parent firm of British Airways and Iberia, has been hit by Spain’s economic woes in the last month, undermining the strength in its long-haul London routes. IAG said yesterday that its traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 6.6 per cent last month versus May 2011, while passenger load factor – a measure [...]
Bwin.Party executive pay deal dodges the shareholder spring June 7, 2012 BWIN.PARTY has survived its annual general meeting almost unscathed by the recent shareholder spring. Less than eight per cent of shareholders yesterday voted against the gambling firm’s remuneration report, which was backed by a majority of 92.36 per cent. This is a significantly better result than the average shareholder dissent so far this year, more in [...]
Russia’s biggest lender posts 13 per cent jump in earnings June 7, 2012 RUSSIA’S biggest bank, Sberbank, said yesterday that its net profit grew 13.1 per cent for the first five months of the year, driven by growth in loans to corporate and retail clients. The figures reported are under Russian accounting standards, which have various differences to international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in the way they account [...]
Synergy Health bets on the US with $25m SRI Surgical takeover June 7, 2012 SYNERGY Health said yesterday it would buy US based SRI Surgical Express to increase its presence in the world’s largest healthcare market and expand its reach out of the struggling UK and European economies. Synergy, a healthcare services provider, said it would pay $3.70 per SRI share, a two per cent discount to SRI’s closing [...]
LONDON 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK June 7, 2012 London 2012 has unveiled the key items that will be used across the 805 victory ceremonies at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The royal purple podiums have been created by students from the Royal College of Art in London. The bouquets were designed by UK florist Jane Packer. Between now and the start of the [...]
Lamprell investors rebel over pay June 7, 2012 Shareholders in oil and gas engineer Lamprell yesterday staged a minor revolt over pay, with 11 per cent voting against the directors’ remuneration package. The meeting at the company’s headquarters in Dubai came just weeks after the contractor issued a profit warning in which it said pre-tax loss in the first half to 30 June [...]
Ultra buys US power company June 7, 2012 Defence and security group Ultra Electronics said yesterday it had paid $12.5m (£8m) for RFI, a US power conversion business. RFI is owned by US electronic systems and components company DGT Holdings. The deal is subject to approval by DGT shareholders, but is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
