Reckitt agrees £2.5bn bid for Durex maker July 21, 2010 CONSUMER goods group Reckitt Benckiser yesterday agreed to buy Durex condoms and Scholl sandals maker SSL International for £2.5bn in cash to increase its presence in the health and personal care markets. The Anglo-Dutch maker of Nurofen painkillers, Strepsils and Lemsip cold remedies, said SSL stockholders would receive 1,171p a share. Regulators and investors are [...]
Reckitt Benckiser July 21, 2010 WHAT a difference a couple of years makes. Back then, SSL was trading at 400-500p and Reckitt was said to be sniffing around. Its shareholders will wish it made its move then: its hefty £1,171p per share offer – equivalent to 18 times forecast ebitda in the year to March 2011 – is going to [...]
Ocado shares tumble after its flotation July 21, 2010 OCADO’S share price tumbled yesterday as investors gave the thumbs down to its stock, even at its massively reduced valuation. Shares in the firm – which floated at 180p – were selling as low as 155p during its first morning of conditional trading. Analysts queued up to take a pop at the firm, with some [...]
Hedge funds perform well July 21, 2010 Hedge funds pulled in $9.5bn (£6.3bn) during the second quarter, with nervous investors preferring to send their money to the biggest and best established managers, according to industry tracker Hedge Fund Research (HFR). Hedge fund managers have seen flat returns on average as they have battled a volatile market so far this year, but that [...]
AAIA appoints banks for its upcoming flotation July 21, 2010 American International Group (AIG) is set to appoint Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as joint global coordinators for the planned initial public offering of its Asian life insurance business, AIA, sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. On Monday, AIG named Mark Tucker as the new chief executive of AIA and formally [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW DO YOU RATE OCADO’S CHANCES NOW THE COMPANY HAS FLOATED? July 21, 2010 CLIVE BLACK | SHORE CAPITAL “We believe that a revised 180p issue price is still far too high for Ocado at this juncture, which has been reflected by the market. To our minds the reputation of the company and the stock can only be tarnished by recent events, which is a shame for all concerned. [...]
Legal charges leave Glaxo £304m in red July 21, 2010 MAMMOTH legal costs and restructuring charges hit GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) second quarter financial performance causing the pharmaceutical giant to report losses for the period. The drugmaker said losses amounted to £304m for the three months ended 30 June after it swallowed a £1.57bn legal charge connected to a number of court disputes while at the same [...]
Billiton ups iron ore output but uncertain over growth July 21, 2010 MINING giant BHP Billiton reported a 16 per cent jump in quarterly iron ore production yesterday, but voiced caution over the short-term outlook for commodities markets. “Uncertainty surrounds the near-term prospects for growth in the developed world as governments adjust fiscal policies,” BHP Billiton said in its June quarter production report. “Within China, measures introduced [...]
BP dents FTSE 100 dividends July 21, 2010 UK DIVIDENDS among FTSE 100 firms are forecast to fall by eight per cent this year to £54.7bn, mainly due to the BP freeze on shareholder payouts. The BP disaster has put a big dent in the income payments that investors can expect with over £5.4bn of dividends being cancelled up until 31 December 2010. [...]
Rail bonuses are approved July 21, 2010 CONTROVERSIAL six-figure bonuses for Network Rail bosses have been approved, despite criticism from the Prime Minister and unions. Members of the not-for-profit company’s ruling body voted in favour of the pay package by 37 votes to 31, with nine abstentions. Outgoing chief executive Iain Coucher will get £641,000. A spokeswoman for Number 10 said: “The [...]
