Spectris spends $475m on US firm Omega Engineering August 15, 2011 BRITISH electrical engineering firm Spectris has agreed to buy privately held Omega Engineering for $475m (£291m) to strengthen its industrial controls business. Surrey-based Spectris, which serves various industries including mining, pharmaceuticals and transport, said it would finance the deal from its existing cash and bank facilities. Spectris expects the acquisition to add to adjusted earnings [...]
Huawei sales rise 11 per cent as it gains ground on rival Ericsson August 15, 2011 CHINA’S Huawei Technologies, the world’s number two network equipment maker, posted an 11 per cent rise in its first-half sales yesterday as it closes in on market leader Ericsson. Huawei, one of China’s best-known names in the technology sector, faces a weak global economy due to US and European debt woes that could hamper telecom [...]
EPISODE 23: Heard through the doorway August 15, 2011 FOR the last week I’ve been walking on eggshells. Emma is anxious and agitated. Noel is under-stimulated and over-reactive. Maria is angling for a pay increase. Meanwhile the twins, according to Emma’s obstetrician, both seem comfortable and to be gaining weight. And I am simply tired. I stand, unobserved, at the kitchen door, my tie [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS August 15, 2011 RBC Capital Markets The corporate and investment banking arm of Royal Bank of Canada has promoted Harry Samuel (pictured) from global co-head of fixed income and currencies and global head of treasury services to chief executive officer, Europe. David Thomas, global head of technology and operations, has been promoted to chief operating officer, Europe. Samuel [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS August 15, 2011 ADECCO JP Morgan rates the recruitment group as “overweight” with a target price of CHF35.80 (£27.89), concluding that the company’s long-term fundamentals appear solid and that even in a low growth environment for the sector it should deliver a good top line and profit growth. The broker says the key disappointment in Adecco’s second quarter [...]
FTSE rises but Eurozone still weighs on some bank stocks August 15, 2011 ARALLY by commodity issues on a brighter demand picture pulled Britain’s top share index higher yesterday, though weakness in banks dented some sentiment as investors looked cautiously ahead towards a key meeting today on the Eurozone debt crisis. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet German chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris to discuss further steps to [...]
Wall Street has a third day of gains August 15, 2011 WALL Street stocks rose for a third day yesterday as investors saw Google’s offer for phone maker Motorola Mobility as a signal to jump back into the market after weeks of sharp selling. Acquisition activity is often viewed as a sign major corporations sitting on big cash piles are willing to pay for shares even [...]
Questioning FTSE price earnings ratio forecasts August 15, 2011 OVER the last few weeks, investor uncertainty has driven a mass sell-off in equities, as market volatility has pushed investors to seek safe havens until the waters calm a little. But with prices being driven so low, is it time to pile back into UK equities? Looking at price/earnings ratios seems to suggest that the [...]
DON’T COUNT ON A MERKEL – SARKOZY DEAL August 15, 2011 I’VE been abroad for the last two weeks which has meant that I managed to miss the unpleasantness of the riots, and the market volatility of the past fortnight. As I left the country, Congress and the White House were still at loggerheads over raising the US debt ceiling. Now I’m struggling to find any [...]
Beauty and the Yeast August 15, 2011 Honey & Barley Facial 75 minutes, £95 Call me a cynic, but I’ve a feeling you could take any natural substance and make a case for the wonderful job it will do for your skin. Roses! Thyme! Seaweed! But anyway, this is about barley, and barley that’s grown in Cambridgeshire and normally used for brewing beer. [...]
