Towers Watson lifts forecast as revenues rise May 7, 2012 PROFESSIONAL services company Towers Watson posted better-than-expected quarterly results yesterday on higher revenue from its benefits segment, and raised its full-year profit outlook. Towers Watson, whose London offices specialise in reinsurance, reported third-quarter earnings of $68.2m (£42.1m), down from $69.2m a year earlier. Revenue rose four per cent to $901.5m. In the firm’s benefits business, [...]
US corporate results round up May 7, 2012 EA loses game subscribers Electronic Arts’ adjusted profit fell in the fourth quarter as it hemorrhaged subscribers for its flagship Star Wars game, knocking its shares down ten per cent in after-hours trading. The company last night posted total revenue of $1.37bn, compared with $1.09bn a year ago for the first three months of 2012. [...]
US retailer Talbots receives a sweeter offer from Sycamore May 7, 2012 WOMEN’S clothing retailer Talbots, which had opened its books to Sycamore Partners in January, received a raised takeover offer of $214.6m (£132m) from the private equity firm yesterday. Talbots said Sycamore had offered to pay $3.05 per share — slightly higher than the $3.00 per share, or $212m, it offered in December. But Talbots shares [...]
Eden Research to join City’s junior market May 7, 2012 EDEN Research has announced it will begin trading on the Alternative Investment Market this Friday, with a value of around £20m. The company, which is withdrawing from the Plus market ahead of the move, is chaired by former National Farmers Union president Sir Ben Gill. Eden Research describes itself as an expert on environmentally friendly [...]
Cheap divorces for the rich May 7, 2012 THE MORE your assets are worth, the less it will cost you to keep them, thanks to Riverview Law. The fixed-fee legal services firm, which opened in February, is now offering divorce packages for high net worth individuals, “so that the costs of divorce do not eat up a couple’s assets”. To qualify, you’ll need [...]
BANK’S CHARITY: YOU CAN PUT YOUR SHIRT ON IT May 7, 2012 THREE days after their appearance in the FA Cup Final, Liverpool are set to make history in a different way. Standard Chartered will replace their logo as main sponsor with that of their charitable initiative set up to tackle avoidable blindness. For the Reds’ last 2011-12 home game, against Chelsea tonight, the shirts will promote [...]
Manufacturers see renewed export growth May 7, 2012 MANUFACTURERS are increasingly upbeat about their growth prospects, forecasting rising output and export orders, two new studies showed today. Seventy per cent of manufacturers expect orders to rise this year, with 50 per cent forecasting increasing exports to emerging economies, according to industry body EEF. The EEF believes this should help the weak economic recovery [...]
Food price inflation slows as world commodities spike ends May 7, 2012 PRICE pressures on consumers eased in April as food price inflation slowed sharply and non-food prices fell for the third consecutive month, industry data showed today. Food prices were 4.3 per cent higher than in the same month of 2011, down from the 5.4 per cent rise recorded in March, according to the British Retail [...]
Finance workers unhappy in jobs May 7, 2012 Many graduates working in the financial services sector are dissatisfied with their jobs and likely to leave when the labour market picks up, PwC warned today. Fifty-five per cent of staff surveyed “made compromises” when accepting a job during the downturn, meaning they are likely to reconsider their roles when the economy recovers. If firms [...]
London house prices keep rising May 7, 2012 House prices increased in London but fell in every other region, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today. A net balance of 40 per cent of London surveyors reported rising prices, but across the country as a whole a balance of 19 per cent reported falls. “Renewed concerns over the economy and talk [...]
