Taste for the exotic boosts Barr’s profits March 26, 2012 EXOTIC JUICES BUMP UP AG BARR’S PROFITS SOFT drinks maker AG Barr saw revenues jump 6.6 per cent to £237m last year, buoyed by strong growth in its exotic juice range. The Cumbernauld, Scotland-based company said pre-tax profits were up 6.2 per cent to £33.6m, excluding exceptional items, led by high demand for Rubicon and [...]
Ofgem plans to get tough on gas suppliers to fight theft March 26, 2012 ENERGY regulator Ofgem wants gas suppliers to pay money into an industry-wide pot to cover the cost of fighting gas theft, a problem that has cost consumers £138m per year since 2009, the watchdog said yesterday. Suppliers are expected to implement all changes proposed by the regulator by the end of 2013 and could face [...]
Roche digs in as pharma firm extends Illumina bid March 26, 2012 ROCHE Holding yesterday extended its $5.7bn (£3.6bn) cash bid for US gene decoder Illumina for a second time as the Swiss drugmaker sticks to its M&A strategy of playing a long game. Roche is offering $44.50 per share for Illumina, but analysts expect the company ultimately to raise its offer for the San Diego-based group. [...]
Smiths Group wins Doha contract March 26, 2012 Technology firm Smiths Group has won a €100m contract to provide airport security detection machines to Doha Airport, as the Qatari hub renews its systems ahead of the football World Cup in 2022. The deal, announced yesterday, is the biggest single-airport contract that Smiths’ detection arm has ever won, and will see the company supply [...]
Wessex rejects Total approach March 26, 2012 Wessex Exploration has rejected any potential offer that Total was planning to make for the firm, deeming the suggested offer price “inadequate”. Total revealed earlier this month it was considering making a 10p-per-share offer for the Aim-listed oil and gas explorer, valuing it at around £72m. But Wessex said yesterday that after consulting with shareholders [...]
Big Yellow on a pre-downturn high March 26, 2012 Big Yellow said yesterday its March occupancy level will be above the previous September’s level for the first time in five years. The storage company said wholly-owned occupancy of its 32-strong portfolio is at 64 per cent, up from 59.3 per cent this time last year. The group, which last week discovered its service could [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 26, 2012 Strategic Minerals The iron ore producer and exploration company has announced the appointment of George Cardona as non-executive director, with immediate effect. Cardona was formerly a special adviser at the Treasury, and spent the first half of his career in banking and politics, notably at HSBC. He left HSBC in 2000 and formed Cardona Lloyd, [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS March 26, 2012 BT GROUP UBS rates the telecoms group as “neutral” but raises its target price from 210p to 230p after BT announced on Friday that it will halve its pension deficit by end of March 2012 and said the current deficit stood at £4.1bn – below the expected £6bn. UBS now expects the company’s dividend to [...]
Bernanke’s words boost US markets March 26, 2012 THE S&P 500 rebounded from its worst week so far this year to retake a four-year high yesterday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signalled supportive monetary policy will remain even though the job picture has begun to improve. The three major US stock indexes climbed 1 per cent or more and all 10 S&P [...]
FTSE posts a two-week high on upbeat data and US policy March 26, 2012 BRITAIN’S benchmark share index posted its biggest daily gain in two weeks yesterday, as expectations of looser US monetary policy and brighter German data gave investors fresh reason to push the market towards a retest of recent eight-month highs. The FTSE 100 closed up 47.81 points, or 0.8 per cent, at 5,902.70. A surprise improvement [...]
