CKI makes a £2.4bn bid for Northumbrian July 11, 2011 NORTHUMBRIAN Water surged 5.1 per cent yesterday after it received a £2.4bn provisional offer from Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing. Northumbrian will now open its books to Ka-shing’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure (CKI). The 465p a share bid would give a 21 per cent premium to Northumbrian’s share price before reports of a takeover surfaced last [...]
Nestlé spends $1bn to buy stake in Chinese candymaker July 11, 2011 NESTLÉ, the world’s largest food company, is paying a hefty $1.7bn (£1.1bn) for a 60 per cent stake in candymaker Hsu Fu Chi International to move deeper into fast-growing markets in China. Nestlé’s biggest deal in China so far will take it closer to its target of 45 per cent of sales from emerging markets [...]
House market stuck in a rut July 11, 2011 WEAK supply and demand has left the UK housing market in a “stalemate” despite a pick-up in mortgage lending, new data suggests. Demand failed to rise in June while the recent growth in new instructions to market properties ground to a halt, according to the latest survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). [...]
London’s troubled IPO market sees signs of life July 11, 2011 WHISPER it softly, but there are signs that the iciness that has characterised the London IPO market is beginning to thaw. Over the past couple of weeks, two foreign-based groups, Ophir Energy and Global Ports, have successfully raised funds in the London markets, in contrast to the many groups who have had to pull their [...]
President Obama rules out short term extension to America’s debt ceiling July 11, 2011 AMERICAN President Barack Obama will refuse to sign a temporary extension of the US debt ceiling, he said yesterday, insisting that Republicans and Democrats must come to a long-term agreement this month. “We should use this opportunity to do something meaningful on debt and deficits,” Obama said at a press conference in Washington DC. “We’re [...]
High street sales bounce back in June yet British retailers remain cautious July 11, 2011 TOTAL retail sales improved by 1.5 per cent in the year to June, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. While food sales slowed slightly, this was offset by increased non-food sales, attributed to the summer clearance sales beginning earlier this year. Like-for-like sales – which exclude changes in shop floor [...]
Exports in construction tools rise July 11, 2011 Exports are providing a vital lifeline for manufacturers of construction products, according to a survey released yesterday. The number of producers exporting constriction products rose by 18 per cent in the first three months of the year, the Construction Products Association said. Yet inflation is severely hitting the industry, with 95 per cent of firms [...]
French industry rebounds in May July 11, 2011 French industrial production bounced back in May well above the expectations of economists, rising two per cent. In April prices had sunk by half a per cent. The official figures, released yesterday, also showed that manufacturing output rose by 1.5 per cent in May.
Price pressures tame in Norway July 11, 2011 Norwegian inflation came out well below expectations yesterday, measuring 1.3 per cent on the consumer price index for June. Core inflation, which excludes volatile elements such as energy and food, measured just 0.7 per cent.
Turkey’s trade deficit widens July 11, 2011 Turkish assets weakened yesterday as data showed May’s current account deficit rising 164 per cent to $7.75bn, slightly undershooting a forecast but serving as a reminder of Turkey’s deep external imbalances.
