BMW brand widens sales gap over VW’s Audi in September October 9, 2012 BMW increased sales of its flagship BMW brand by over 14 per cent in September thanks to booming growth in China, helping the world’s largest premium carmaker widen the gap slightly to close competitor Audi. “We expect to see further healthy growth in worldwide sales in the fourth quarter,” BMW brand sales chief Ian Robertson [...]
BHP Billiton returns to Aussie market with A$1bn bond issue October 9, 2012 MINING giant BHP Billiton made a return to the Australian bond market after an 11-year absence with a A$1bn (£635.8m) five-year issue paying 90 basis points over bank bill swap rate. The issue was heavily oversubscribed with talk of a total order book around A$2bn, according to one participating investor. He said every account was [...]
Vedanta says India zinc and iron operation slowed in quarter two October 9, 2012 MINER Vedanta posted a nine per cent drop in metal mined from its Indian zinc operations in its second quarter, and said that saleable iron ore output plunged 86 per cent, hit by mining bans and monsoon travel restrictions. Its zinc India business accounted for over a quarter of Vedanta’s earnings in its last financial [...]
Pennon acquires Pulp Friction October 9, 2012 Viridor Waste Management, a subsidiary of FTSE 100 water services and waste group Pennon, yesterday acquired Kent-based paper firm Pulp Friction for a total of £9m. Pennon will also take control of the business, assets and goodwill of SBS Paper, a waste paper sorting service with financial links to Pulp Friction. Pulp Friction processes around [...]
Informa buys intelligence firm October 9, 2012 Business and events group Informa yesterday bought analytics firm Zephyr Associates from Kemmons Wilson Companies for $62m (£38.7m) in cash. Informa expects the acquisition of Zephyr Associates, which specialises in business intelligence, to generate a positive return on invested capital from 2013. Peter Rigby, chief executive of Informa, said the acquisition “is a great fit [...]
Rolls-Royce renews US contract October 9, 2012 Power systems company Rolls-Royce has won a $103.3m (£64.6m) contract extension from the US Department of Defense to provide support for the F405 engines that power the US Navy’s T-45 training aircraft. Rolls-Royce provides inventory control, logistics support and engineering elements for the F405 engine, covering more than 200 aircraft. Operations between Rolls-Royce and the [...]
Inmarsat stays on course for a positive year October 9, 2012 SATELLITE company Inmarsat yesterday said trading had been “consistent with trends” in the three months to October, and that the firm was performing in line with full-year expectations. The FTSE 250 company, which owns a fleet of ten satellites serving the maritime, aviation and land sectors, said that performance had been positive in its key [...]
Online games and new markets bolster web payment firm Skrill October 9, 2012 EXPANSION into the US led online payments provider Skrill to a 29 per cent year-on-year rise in revenue in the first half of 2012, the company said yesterday. Skrill, formerly known as Moneybookers, said 30m people had signed up for customer accounts – double the number reported 18 months ago. The secure payments company, which [...]
O2 owner AEG starts sale process October 9, 2012 Billionaire Phil Anschutz has kicked off the auction of his AEG, the owner of the O2 arena as well as a host of US venues and sports teams, with an expectation that the sports and entertainment giant should draw bids in the $10bn (£6.3bn) range. The initial group of recipients is expected to include rich [...]
Reed Elsevier sells off Variety October 9, 2012 Hollywood trade magazine Variety has been sold by British publishing firm Reed Elsevier to US online publisher Penske Media Corporation for a sum believed to be around $25m (£15.6m). Reed Elsevier said in March that it would put the publication that has covered Hollywood for over a century up for sale after the paper had been [...]
