Cooper raises its Laird bid up to £533m July 27, 2011 COOPER Industries yesterday raised its takeover bid for British electronics firm Laird to 200p per share, or £533m, but repeated concerns that it did not have enough access to Laird’s books. Laird said yesterday morning it had made new information available to Cooper Industries, signalling it was open to talks on a possible takeover. Laird, [...]
Retail jobs fall for third month July 27, 2011 EMPLOYMENT in the UK’s retail sector fell by 0.4 per cent last quarter compared to the same period last year, the first time that three consecutive months of negative annual jobs growth has been recorded. The fall in retail employment is equivalent to 3,100 fewer full-time jobs, despite the number of retail outlets in operation [...]
BAA narrows losses as traffic grows but a legal threat over charges looms July 27, 2011 BAA, the owner of Stansted and Heathrow, reported smaller losses for the first half of the year, boosted by more passengers using its airports. The airport operator made a pre-tax loss of £249m in the six months to June, down from £279.7m for the same time last year. Traffic across its London airports increased by [...]
Car makers signal drop in profits after Japan quake July 27, 2011 CAR makers are revealing the financial impact of the Japanese disaster, with France’s Peugeot Citroen warning of a profit dip and Japan’s Nissan posting a 10 per cent profit fall. The earthquake and tsunami that struck in March led to global supply problems in the automotive industry. Peugeot, Europe’s second-biggest car maker, said it cars [...]
UK factory order book is suffering July 27, 2011 UK FACTORY orders fell more sharply than forecast in July and price pressures hit their lowest point in one and a half years, the Confederation of British Industry said yesterday. Official figures showed that the total order book balance fell to -10 this month from +1 in June, well below forecasts for a reading of [...]
Eurozone private sector loans drop July 27, 2011 THE annual growth rate of loans to the private sector in the Eurozone slowed in June, making it harder for the European Central Bank to argue for a further hike in interest rates. ECB figures released yesterday showed loans to the private sector rose at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent, down from 2.7 [...]
Morgan Crucible sees growth July 27, 2011 British industrial materials firm Morgan Crucible’s first-half underlying pre-tax profit has risen two-thirds, boosted by strong growth across its emerging markets, and said it entered the second half with good trading momentum. The company said it remains on track to achieve its three-year goal of doubling underlying pre-tax profit by 2013. The company’s net debt [...]
Daimler demand driven down July 27, 2011 German car and truck maker Daimler missed quarterly revenue forecasts – despite second quarter revenue of €26.3bn (£23.1bn) – and warned strong demand for cars in the key emerging markets of China and India is likely to slow sharply. China’s car market, the world’s biggest, is seen cooling this year due to rising fuel prices [...]
Renishaw profit surges July 27, 2011 Renishaw’s full-year adjusted pre-tax profit has almost tripled, helped by strong growth in China, and the British precision engineer said it expects its current progress to continue. The company, which makes and sells precision metrology and inspection equipment and products for the healthcare sector, said it posted a 61 per cent growth in its Far [...]
Wimbledon the smash hit for summer sport July 27, 2011 ARECENT YouGov SixthSense report on pub sports viewing revealed that 33 per cent of British adults watched sport in pubs. Large proportions of those watch football but what is the impact of summer sports, more traditionally watched in the home? The last month has seen three of the showcase sporting events of the British summer, [...]
