Hunting is confident on full year November 1, 2012 Shares in oil field services company Hunting rose more than six per cent yesterday after it said it was confident about meeting expectations for the year, in spite of rising competition in the US shale drilling business. Analysts expect Hunting to post annual pre-tax profits of £114m. US rivals have warned recently on the impact [...]
Xchanging expands in Asia November 1, 2012 Outsourcing firm Xchanging yesterday unveiled plans to open two new delivery centres in Asia as part of its expansion in the region. The firm currently has 4,500 staff at 18 offices in the area and is adding two offices in the Philippines and China to meet demand in sectors such as insurance, real-estate, banking and [...]
Croda sells Italian business November 1, 2012 Speciality pharmaceutical company Croda, which counts Procter & Gamble and Unilever among its customers, is to sell its Italian arm to a private company in the country. It is believed to be sold for between £1 and £2m. Completion of the deal is expected to take place before the year end. Meanwhile, Croda said its [...]
The Restaurant Group boosted as sales surge November 1, 2012 RESTAURANT Group, the owner of the Garfunkel’s and Frankie & Benny’s chains, yesterday said sales bounced back in the third quarter after a quiet summer, driven by an uptick in consumer spending. Reporting a 3.9 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the first nine months of the year, chief executive Andrew Page said growth [...]
Sony slashes video game sales goals as Sharp warns on future November 1, 2012 JAPANESE electronics powerhouse Sony cut sales forecasts for its key products yesterday, a worrying sign for the company as it focuses on video gaming under new chief executive Kazuo Hirai. Sony said it expects to sell 10m of its handheld PSP and Vita devices in the current financial year, down from the previous prediction of [...]
City Views | What’s the recipe for the restaurant group’s success? November 1, 2012 NEVIL WHARTON DOW JONES Outlets that come under the Restaurant Group meet their clients’ wants and needs very well. People do not go into Frankie and Bennys looking for silver spoon service but nonetheless they are served good food at good prices. The fact that the restaurants are in premium locations means they are easily [...]
Stanhope and Mitsui lease 70 mark lane November 1, 2012 FIFTY per cent of the £140m 70 Mark Lane development is already committed to tenants, Mitsui Fudosan and Stanhope announced yesterday, two years before the development is due to be completed. Miller will occupy the first six floors of the building, taking up about 85,000 square feet, leaving 84,000 square feet open for other firms.
Cookson splits divisions into two listed firms November 1, 2012 INDUSTRIAL material supplier Cookson Group yesterday said it will separate its performance materials division from its engineered ceramics and precious metals processing division following a strategic review of the business. The performance materials division – which supplies materials and chemicals to construction markets – will form a new London-listed speciality chemicals company called Alent. The [...]
Glencore wary despite a strong third quarter November 1, 2012 COMMODITIES trader Glencore yesterday warned of a cautious outlook, as it reported a strong performance in its marketing division. Glencore, currently in the final throes of a $56bn (£35bn) mega merger with mining giant Xstrata, said in a trading statement that overall performance in the third quarter was “good”, despite weaker commodity prices and tough [...]
Exxon Mobil’s profit falls after production dips November 1, 2012 EXXON Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported a quarterly profit yesterday that topped expectations, as higher margins from its refining arm countered a 7.5 per cent decline in oil and gas output. Exxon and other global oil producers are buying oil and gas assets in North America as they struggle to raise [...]
