Flybe profits hit by volcano June 30, 2011 SHARES in Flybe remained buoyant yesterday despite the Exeter airline reporting heavy losses after last year’s Icelandic volcanic eruption and arctic winter conditions disrupted flights. The company made an annual pre-tax loss of £4.3m, compared with a profit of £24.6m the previous year. Yet analysts remained upbeat, saying the results were “no surprise” after the [...]
Rival hits out at Lottery regulators over the extension of Camelot licence June 30, 2011 A RIVAL firm has hit out at the likely extension of Camelot’s licence as the provider of the UK National Lottery. Camelot has announced a plan to install thousands of new lottery terminals in rural areas in a bid to persuade the National Lottery Commission to extend its licence by five years. The Commission says [...]
British Land snaps up City apartment block for £57m June 30, 2011 BRITISH LAND has agreed to buy Wardrobe Court, a residential investment property in the City for £57m. Wardrobe Court, which is being sold by the Warnford Group, a family company, will mark British Land’s first residential acquisition in the square mile. The FTSE 100 group, best known for its retail and office schemes, is expanding [...]
EU clears LVMH to acquire Bulgari June 30, 2011 FRENCH luxury group LVMH secured EU approval yesterday for its €3.7bn (£3.3bn) purchase of Italian peer Bulgari to boost its presence in emerging markets. The acquisition will help LVMH, which owns Louis Vuitton, improve margins and better compete with bigger watch and jewellery companies Richemont and Swatch. The companies announced the deal in March. The [...]
Order delays halve Hampson profit June 30, 2011 Engineering group Hampson’s shares fell 10 per cent yesterday after it reported a 57 per cent drop in pre-tax profit to £10.8m. Revenues rose 17 per cent to £197.5m, but its bottom line was also hit by a £34.6m impairment charge. The company, which is trying to sell off assets to reduce debt, had previously [...]
Petrofac bullish on growth prospects June 30, 2011 Oil services firm Petrofac said yesterday it was confident of delivering profit growth of at least 15 per cent in 2011, after strong performances from projects in Iraq. The group’s order book stood at $11.4bn at the end of the half. The group also said chief financial officer Keith Roberts will retire at the end [...]
Banks expect more defaults on mortgages June 30, 2011 DOWNBEAT mortgage lenders fear that defaults on payments could rise again in the coming months, a Bank of England survey revealed yesterday. Despite a “broadly unchanged” number of defaults in the second quarter of this year, losses made on defaults rose for the third quarter in a row – and “lenders expected the default rate [...]
Nationwide: flat housing market is going nowhere June 30, 2011 HOUSE prices flatlined in June, with the market seeming to be in the midst of an extended period of stagnation. Prices were unchanged in June after a 0.3 per cent rise in May and a 0.2 per cent drop in April, according to a Nationwide survey released yesterday. “The property market has moved sideways over [...]
Record level of French state debt June 30, 2011 The French government’s debt reached a record high of 84.5 per cent of GDP in the first three months of the year, official data revealed yesterday. The proportion of debt was up from 82.3 per cent at the end of 2010. Meanwhile, French household consumption decreased by 0.8 per cent in May compared to the [...]
Mutuals increase their lending June 30, 2011 Lending by mutuals jumped by 20 per cent in May, compared to the same time the previous year, research from the Building Societies Association (BSA) found this week. Gross lending totalled £1.8bn, while mortgage approvals also hit £1.8bn – a 15 per cent increase on May 2010.
