Ryanair says fuel prices will drive down profits May 21, 2012 BUDGET airline Ryanair yesterday announced record profits of €503m (£406m) for the year to March 2012, an increase of a quarter on a like-for-like basis. But the Dublin-based firm said that this would be the last year of expectation-beating profit rises and warned that returns could drop by as much as 20 per cent during the next [...]
Eaton snaps up rival Cooper in £7.5bn deal May 21, 2012 Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton yesterday agreed to buy electrical equipment maker Cooper Industries $11.8bn (£7.5bn) in cash and stock, its biggest-ever acquisition, a move that will lower Eaton’s taxes by shifting its incorporation to Ireland. American Eaton will pay $72 per share for Cooper: $39.15 in cash and the rest in stock. Eaton shareholders will [...]
German Opel jobs are at risk May 21, 2012 THE head of German carmaker Opel, under pressure from parent General Motors to end losses, yesterday refused to promise workers at its plant in Bochum that their jobs would be safeguarded after 2014. The plant, located in the rust-belt Ruhr region devastated by coal mine closures, is expected to shut after the company chose to [...]
CITY VIEWS | DO YOU THINK LONDON’S AIRPORTS ARE READY FOR THE OLYMPICS? May 21, 2012 ATSUSHI MATSUMOTO SMBC NIKKO I don’t think so. The airports could be end up being a let down and embarrassment this summer. But I have hope in the aviation authorities that they could still do something about it in the 50 or so days to go before the Olympics. What is really bothering me is [...]
WPP invests in Burma after sanctions end May 21, 2012 WPP yesterday announced it has bought a stake in a Burmese advertising agency just days after US sanctions on the Asian country were lifted. New York-based Ogilvy & Mather, a fully-owned subsidiary of global ad giant WPP, yesterday unveiled the purchase of a stake in Today Advertising, an agency in Myanmar. The firms did not specify [...]
Pursuit shares in freefall after P&G fails to award it contract May 21, 2012 PURSUIT Dynamics saw its shares nosedive yesterday after it announced that it had missed out on a key contract with consumer giant Procter & Gamble. The loss-making technology company had pinned its hopes on P&G buying its technology – aimed at reducing costs for businesses. Pursuit won extra funds from its shareholders in March. It [...]
Bridgepoint spells out a £49m deal for dictation firm BigHand May 21, 2012 BRIDGEPOINT, the private equity house behind a series of high street names, has bought a dictation technology firm from Lloyds Development Capital in a £49m deal. Its Bridgepoint Development Capital arm has taken a majority stake in BigHand, which works with more than 150,000 professionals such as lawyers, doctors and accountants. As part of the [...]
ITE sales leap 30pc in first half May 21, 2012 Exhibition and conference organiser ITE Group reported a higher first-half profit as volume sales jumped 30 per cent. The UK firm, which organises around 200 trade exhibitions and conferences each year in 14 countries, said its booked revenue for the year, including sales from newly acquired businesses, rose six per cent on a like-for-like basis [...]
Informa forecast unchanged May 21, 2012 Informa yesterday said its expectations for 2012 remained unchanged, despite difficult economic conditions worldwide. In an interim management statement, the provider of specialist information and services to academic, businesses and individuals, said it is meeting its goals. Despite the upbeat forecast, based on the four months from 31 December to 30 April 2012, shares dropped [...]
Music Festivals revenue down May 21, 2012 Vince Power’s Music Festivals group yesterday warned that sales are down for its venues in Kent and Spain. The AIM-listed firm’s shares fell 7.6 per cent to a 52-week low of 42.50p.
