Exxaro buys Territory Resources in bid to enter iron ore market May 23, 2011 SOUTH African diversified miner Exxaro bid $130m (£80.7m) in cash for Australia’s Territory Resources, making a pricey wager to expand into iron ore mining. Exxaro, one of South Africa’s largest coal miners, said yesterday it had offered A$0.46 per Territory share, representing a 64 per cent premium to the last closing price. The deal values [...]
Vectura narrows its losses and reveals positive progress from lung drug trials May 23, 2011 DRUG company Vectura yesterday narrowed its annual pre-tax losses to £13.3m as it reported encouraging trial results for its new medicine for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), due to go on sale in 2012. Revenues rose seven per cent to £42.9m, and the firm ended the year with a cash pile of £74.4m. Royalties were [...]
Profit surge of 150 per cent for the organic ingredient supplier Treatt May 23, 2011 TREATT, which supplies organic ingredients to the flavour and fragrance industries, has reported an increase in pre-tax profit for the first half of 2011, as revenues climbed 29 per cent on strong demand and higher raw material prices. The company also lifted its interim dividend. Treatt’s profit before tax for the six months to 31 [...]
Wichford plots Redefine merger May 23, 2011 Property investment company Wichford swung to an annual loss yesterday, as it unveiled a proposal to merge with Redefine International. The firm said it had been a challenging year, with property values hitting its net asset value and causing a pre-tax loss of £12.3m, and said a tie-in with Redefine would shore up its debt [...]
Losses worsen at Readymix May 23, 2011 Irish building materials firm Readymix posted a wider pre-tax loss of €4.2m (£3.7m) for the first three months of the year compared to last. The company said it expects turnover to fall further during the year, as it admitted that revenues fell 27 per cent in the quarter compared with last year. Readymix blamed the [...]
Lloyds poaches Aviva life boss May 23, 2011 Lloyds Banking Group has poached Aviva’s head of UK life insurance to run its own insurance business. Toby Strauss had worked for Aviva since 2008, and will join the firm as group director of insurance and a member of the group executive committee, subject to FSA approval. Lloyds chief executive António Horta-Osório has made a [...]
STOBART UPBEAT DESPITE INCOME DIP May 23, 2011 HAULAGE group Stobart yesterday said its pre-tax profits last year slipped 11 per cent to £29.5m, though revenues rose £53m to £500.4m from continuing operations. The Cumbria-based transport firm said fuel costs and disruptive winter weather had damaged its bottom line, but was upbeat about future trading.
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS May 23, 2011 Agent Provocateur Retail veteran Chris Woodhouse has been appointed as non-executive chairman of luxury retailer Agent Provocateur. Woodhouse, director of Debenhams and chairman of restaurant group Gondola, which owns Pizza Express and ASK, will take a small stake in the lingerie business, which he will oversee alongside his existing role. Agent Provocateur, owned by private [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS May 23, 2011 MITCHELLS & BUTLERS JP Morgan has downgraded the bar and restaurant operator from “overweight” to “neutral” on the back of recent share price strength, and has lowered its target price by 48p to 360p. The broker thinks the current share price reflects the dilutive impact of major disposals including 333 pubs. However, it expects M&B [...]
Fresh Eurozone debt fears see FTSE plunge to two-month low May 23, 2011 RENEWED concerns about the Eurozone debt crisis triggered a steep sell-off of Britain’s top shares yesterday, led by commodity stocks, with some analysts and investors seeing little on the horizon to tempt investors back into the market. The FTSE 100 index ended at its lowest closing level since 23 March, off 112.60 points, or 1.9 [...]
