Predators circle £200m remains of Connaught September 12, 2010 CONNAUGHT’S surviving businesses could be sold for up to £200m after repairs specialist Mears and construction firm Morgan Sindell carved up its social housing arm. Administrator KPMG has received a flurry of offers for Connaught’s compliance and environmental divisions, which are trading as normal. Mears, property consultancy RPS Group and outsourcing group Mitie are understood [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS September 12, 2010 HMV UBS rates the retailer a “buy” but has reduced its target price to 65p from 72p. The broker says markets remained weak over the summer due to the World Cup, but that competitors fared better thanks to promotions. It has cut its pre-tax profit estimates for 2011 by six per cent to £65m, and [...]
COMPANY OF THE YEAR | The Shortlist September 12, 2010 IT has been another tough year for business. The sovereign debt crisis rocked already shaky market confidence, while uncertainty has kept consumers from splashing out. It is in hard times that reputations are made, though, and over the past year the best have bounced back. Both retailers on our list have, in their different ways, [...]
Kentz signs new Qatar deal September 12, 2010 KENTZ, the Irish engineering company, has signed a $36m (£23.4m) deal with Qatar Petroleum at its remote Halul island facility off the coast of Qatar. The deal will see Kentz provide Qatar Petroleum with telecoms and security systems for the company’s export and storage oil and gas facility. Under the contract, Kentz will install CCTV, [...]
China now a bigger player on financial stage September 12, 2010 China’s rapid ascent to become the world’s second largest economy provided confirmation – if any was needed – that the country is a key player on the global financial stage. And with China forecast to grow at around 10 per cent this year – down from recent pre-crisis highs but still far in advance of [...]
Novartis hopeful its new drug will be defence against meningitis B September 12, 2010 SWISS drugmaker Novartis said Phase III study data indicated a vaccine it was developing could be the first to provide coverage against a type of meningitis. Novartis said that in a trial involving more than 3,600 infants the large majority of those vaccinated with the investigational Multicomponent Meningococcal Serogroup B Vaccine along with other routine [...]
Foxtons set to open 20 new branches September 12, 2010 ESTATE agents Foxtons is to launch an ambitious expansion drive almost doubling the number of branches it currently has after returning to profit. The move will aim to increase Foxton’s presence in its core markets of London and the Home Counties. Last year BC Partners, the private equity firm which bought Foxtons for £360m just [...]
Government cuts herald tough times for services firms September 12, 2010 CONNAUGHT’S high-profile collapse has ushered in a period of intense difficulty for other services companies, according to the latest monthly City A.M./Begbies Traynor health monitor for the Square Mile. The social housing maintenance specialist, which fell into administration last week, is not alone in having felt the pressure of impending government spending cutbacks and poor-quality [...]
Trinity Mirror executive on shortlist to succeed Montgomery at Mecom September 12, 2010 TRINITY MIRROR executive Mark Hollinshead has emerged as a surprise candidate to succeed David Montgomery at the helm of European publisher Mecom. Hollinshead, who is responsible for the Daily Mirror and People in his role as head of Trinity’s national division, is said to be on a shortlist drafted by headhunter Russell Reynolds. Hollinshead has [...]
Enterprise Inns plans disposals September 12, 2010 Pub chain Enterprise Inns could raise up to £100m by selling groups of sites to institutional investors and leasing them back. The leisure company, which owns 7,000 locations across the UK, has until now been offloading individual pubs at auction. It has asked property adviser CB Richard Ellis to look at broadening the programme, it [...]
