WPP buys majority of Predictys May 29, 2012 Global advertising giant WPP yesterday announced KBM Group, one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, has agreed to buy a majority stake in French marketing agency Predictys SAS. Predictys, which generated revenues of €3.36m last year and has gross assets of €3.1m, specialises in digital data and campaign technology.
Quark buys Basingstoke company May 29, 2012 Software company Quark has paid an undisclosed sum of money for Mobile IQ, a cloud-based digital publishing solution that boasts high profile clients including the BBC, Channel 4, Metro and Top Gear.
Profits drop at Apple’s cable maker May 29, 2012 Profits fell for cable maker Volex as consumer electronics giant Apple, its biggest client, pushed for “greener” halogen-free cables. Volex, 23 per cent owned by Nat Rothschild, posted a decline of five per cent in annual pre-tax profit to $19.21m but said underlying profits grew by 23 per cent.
Marubeni buys US firm Gavilon as it eyes China May 29, 2012 JAPANESE trading house Marubeni is to buy US grains merchant Gavilon for $3.6bn (£2.3bn), the company said yesterday, as it targets China’s growing demand for corn from North America, the world’s top grain export hub. China’s corn purchases are expected to surpass Japan’s annual imports of about 16m tonnes, the world’s largest, within as little [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 29, 2012 Hermes Fund Managers Saker Nusseibeh has been appointed chief executive of the fund manager. He joined Hermes in 2009 as main board director and head of investment. He has also held senior roles at Trust Company of the West, Societe Generale Asset Management, and latterly Fortis Investments. Nikko Asset Management The Asia-focused asset management firm [...]
BEST of the BROKERS May 29, 2012 JOHNSON MATTHEY Credit Suisse rates the chemicals company “neutral” and has raised its target price by 50p to £24 to reflect its increased earnings per share forecasts for 2013-15. The broker now expects to see 19 per cent year-on-year growth in profit before tax. However, the broker prefers Belgian rival Umicore as its long-term materials [...]
FTSE up fourth day but rally may end soon May 29, 2012 BRITAIN’S main share index rose for the fourth consecutive day yesterday on hopes of new measures to tackle Europe’s economic crisis, although traders said the rally could be short-lived due to persistent fears over the region’s debt troubles. The benchmark FTSE 100 closed up 34.80 points, or 0.7 per cent, at 5,391.14 points – its [...]
Hopes of euro bailout lift stocks as Facebook dives May 29, 2012 US stocks rose yesterday as signs Greece would stay in the Eurozone were enough to spark buying in what has been a weak month for equities, while Facebook plumbed new lows on high volume. Wall Street has swung back and forth on shifting signals coming out of Europe. More than three issues rose for every [...]
Repsol invests in bid to offset blow from YPF May 29, 2012 SPANISH oil firm Repsol will cut its dividend and sell billions of dollars of assets to help fund an investment drive aimed at boosting production, as it battles to recover from the seizure of Argentine business YPF. In its first strategy update since most of its 57 per cent stake in YPF was nationalised by [...]
Profits rise at Pennon despite slowdown at waste business May 29, 2012 BRITAIN’S Pennon reported a six per cent rise in full-year profit yesterday as strength at its water business helped offset weakness at the company’s waste management unit, Viridor. Viridor, which was seen as Pennon’s growth engine, struggled in the second-half of the year, hurt by lower prices for waste paper or recovered metals – recyclate. [...]
