Unite gets a boost as student numbers rise August 29, 2013 STUDENT property company Unite has filled 90 per cent of its rooms for the new academic year as a rising number of university enrolments coupled with a housing shortage boost its earnings. Unite expects total student numbers to be 30,000 higher than in 2013-14, which the company said should translate to three per cent rental [...]
Stagecoach climbs on bus growth in US August 29, 2013 BUS and rail company Stagecoach said yesterday its American business will help it hit forecasts this year. Stagecoach, which runs Megabus and some yellow school buses in the United States, said sales in this division rose 5.7 per cent in the three months to the end of July. Megabus revenues jumped 21.8 per cent. Its [...]
Emirates tie-up helps Qantas double profits August 29, 2013 AUSTRALIAN flagship carrier Qantas Airways doubled its underlying annual profit, it announced yesterday, as shrinking losses on its international arm offset tougher competition on its lucrative domestic routes. Qantas, which formed an alliance with Emirates Airline this year in an effort to trim losses on international routes, has been battling to keep its domestic yields [...]
ENRC endgame in sight as 95pc accept takeover August 29, 2013 THE CONSORTIUM bidding to take over troubled FTSE 100 miner ENRC yesterday said that the majority of shareholders had agreed to their offer, bringing the number of acceptances up to 94.5 per cent and effectively signalling that the deal will go through. The bidders – led by ENRC’s three billionaire founders – already have the support [...]
Bumi hires new execs and aims to cut costs as earnings decline August 29, 2013 EMBATTLED FTSE 250 miner Bumi yesterday unveiled a management shake-up and said that the company’s separation is “at an advanced stage”, as it said half-year earnings had halved from last year. The company – which has been embroiled in a tug-of-war between its co-founders financier Nat Rothschild and Indonesia’s Bakrie family – has appointed industry [...]
Hunting helped by more drilling in the States and the North Sea August 29, 2013 ENERGY services firm Hunting said increased drilling in onshore United States and the Gulf of Mexico would drive a second-half recovery after poor weather earlier in the year curbed operations in Canada and dented margins. Hunting, which provides equipment and services for drilling and completing oil wells, posted core first-half profit (Ebitda) down 2.7 per [...]
Lamprell swings back to black despite dip in oil rig contracts August 29, 2013 OIL RIG maker Lamprell returned to profit in the first half of 2013, making a quicker than expected recovery from problems over wind-turbine vessels which caused heavy losses in 2012. Chief executive James Moffat told Reuters improvements had come faster than he had hoped since joining the Dubai-based contractor in March. Lamprell previously said it [...]
Steelmaker Evraz shines after its first-half numbers beat forecasts August 29, 2013 RUSSIAN steelmaker Evraz’s share price rose over seven per cent yesterday morning, after posting half-year earnings that beat analysts’ forecasts. Earnings fell 20.7 per cent to $939m (£606m), but this was 12 per cent above expectations, Denis Gabrielik, analyst at Otkritie Investment Bank, told City A.M. The FTSE 250 firm – which is part-owned by [...]
Petropavlovsk writes off $600m as gold price slump hits results August 29, 2013 RUSSIA-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk yesterday posted a first-half net loss after a gold price slump forced it to take about $600m (£386.9m) of impairment charges. Precious metals producers have had to write down billions of dollars after gold price fell 15 per cent since the start of the year. “These (impairments) have severely affected our [...]
Currency move hits Severstal August 29, 2013 Russian steel giant Severstal suffered a net loss of $44m (£28.4m) in the second quarter of the year, according to figures out yesterday. The firm said a $226m currency loss was responsible for the swing into the red. For the half-year, Severstal broke even, compared to profits of $582m a year ago. Chief executive Alexey [...]
