William Hill abandons Probability November 2, 2011 Shares in mobile gambling specialist Probability dropped 16 per cent after William Hill’s takeover bid collapsed. It is understood Playtech, which has a 21 per cent stake in Hill’s online arm, felt a deal with Probability could have hurt its interests. The company, Britain’s biggest bookmaker, was required to decide whether it wanted to make [...]
Logica cuts full-year growth November 2, 2011 IT services provider Logica yesterday cut its full-year growth forecasts as it posted third-quarter results still hampered by weakness in the Benelux region. The Anglo-Dutch company, which competes with Capgemini and Atos Origin, said the group had improved in Britain and its outsourcing division continued to perform strongly. But the weakness in the Benelux region [...]
Cable boosts Comcast November 2, 2011 Comcast’s profits rose five per cent after healthy results from its cable business, calming recent worries that the industry was succumbing to pressures from a faltering economy and poor housing market. The US firm relied on its cable business to offset a weak quarter from two of its newer media properties, the NBC television network [...]
Construction growth set to fall into 2012 November 2, 2011 CONSTRUCTION in the UK hit a five-month high in October, figures released yesterday from Markit revealed, though output fell over the year and the industry fears worse is to come. The purchasing managers index (PMI) for the sector rose sharply to 53.9, strongly up from the nine-month low of 50.1 recorded in September. Any figure [...]
FPC’s Jenkins in call for longer-term bankers’ pay November 2, 2011 BASING bankers’ rewards on return on equity (RoE) encourages short-term thinking and is in part to blame for the financial crisis, Robert Jenkins from the Bank of England’s financial policy committee (FPC) told a conference in Paris yesterday. “RoE is a convenient target,” he said, but it has made “many bankers rich and loyal shareholders [...]
Real estate slows in EU and USA November 2, 2011 The commercial property industry struggled across much of the rich world in the third quarter, according to a report from the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors out yesterday. A weak global economic outlook is largely responsible, with most real estate industries in a majority of countries reporting declining investment enquiries and new development starts. European [...]
Scrap unfair dismissal say SMEs November 2, 2011 Two thirds of small firms want unfair dismissal rules to be scrapped, according to a survey out today from the London Entrepreneurial Exchange (LEE). Seven out of 10 firms will be hiring over the next six months, the study claims. More than half of those surveyed said they were concerned about their business outlook after [...]
NIESR: UK recession risk 50-50 November 2, 2011 Even if the Eurozone crisis is resolved, the UK economy faces an almost 50 per cent chance of suffering two consecutive quarters of contraction, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research’s (NIESR) forecast out today. If leaders only “muddle through”, the risk rises to 70 per cent, the report said. The think-tank [...]
Randgold tips new record in quarter four November 2, 2011 GOLD miner Randgold Resources said yesterday it was confident of delivering record gold production in the fourth quarter. Profits surged to $122.9m (£76.7m) in the third quarter compared with $28.2m in the same period last year. Chief executive Mark Bristow said the company is in “good shape” to meet the bottom end of its 740,000-760,000 [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS November 2, 2011 CENTAMIN EGYPT Goldman Sachs has updated its estimates on the miner following third quarter production and financial results. It rates Centamin Egypt as a “buy” but reduces its target price from 290p to 280p, calling the results solid but unspectacular. Costs were slightly higher than expected and are reflected in next year’s estimates, with earning [...]
