Markel expands in Walkie Talkie August 13, 2013 Insurer Markel has taken an extra floor in the Walkie Talkie skyscraper in the City after acquiring reinsurer Alterra Capital for $3.1bn (£2bn) earlier this year. Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group, the owners of the 38-storey tower, said Markel has increased its space by nearly 50 per cent to 75,000 square feet across floors [...]
Stonegate buys The Living Room August 13, 2013 Stonegate, Britain’s largest private managed pub group, swallowed up the Living Room brand from Premium Bars & Restaurants on Monday for around £10m. Stonegate was created in 2010 when its private equity owner TDR Capital bought 330 managed pubs from Mitchells & Butlers. In 2011 it merged with Town & City Pub Company and now [...]
Stansted workers head to Acas August 13, 2013 Baggage-scanning workers at Stansted Airport are heading to dispute resolution with Acas tomorrow in an attempt to avert planned strike action over the August bank holiday. Around 40 staff, who are employed by outsourcing group Mitie and represented by the GMB union, called the strike on Monday over a backdated pay cut imposed in June. [...]
Recession may end as Europe’s industry grows August 13, 2013 THE EUROZONE’S industry recorded its first annual growth in production since late 2011 yesterday, boosting optimism that the region may have exited recession in the second quarter. Industrial production rose by 0.3 per cent between June 2012 and June 2013, another positive signal to analysts, many of who now expect data released today to show [...]
UK exporters to shift towards new markets August 13, 2013 THE UK is expected to see a boost in exports to developing economies, with firms selling more goods to fast growing countries, while trade to Europe declines. Exports in goods to many emerging markets are forecast to flourish in the next five years, audit giant EY said yesterday. EY’s research predicts that trade in [...]
E.ON earnings fall 15pc due to Europe decline August 13, 2013 BIG SIX energy supplier E.ON yesterday blamed the European economic downturn for a 15 per cent decline in first-half earnings to €5.7bn (£4.9bn). The German company said that its fossil power generation business in Europe was suffering from low wholesale prices as a result of the financial downturn. The firm added that “interventionist energy policies [...]
Weak European demand hurts profits at chemist Synthomer August 13, 2013 BRITISH chemicals maker Synthomer’s pre-tax profit for the first half fell 10.3 per cent, hurt by weak demand in Europe, particularly from the construction industry. Shares in the company fell yesterday after the company said profit in the second half would be lower than the preceding half due to weak European market conditions. “The outlook [...]
British extended warranty firm sold to CVC Partners for £750m August 13, 2013 PRIVATE equity firm CVC Capital Partners yesterday bought Domestic & General (D&G), a provider of extended warranties, from rival Advent International in a deal thought to be worth around £750m. D&G offers breakdown cover on household appliances such as television and white goods and claims to have 15m customers producing sales of over £600m a year. Rather than [...]
Steel firm ThyssenKrupp suffers as sale of American arm drags on August 13, 2013 GERMANY’S ThyssenKrupp saw its finances weaken in the latest quarter as the indebted group struggled to find a buyer for its loss-making Steel Americas division. ThyssenKrupp has been trying for more than a year to find a buyer for the mills in Brazil and the US state of Alabama, which have caused losses and sapped [...]
US auditors told to include more detail in reports August 13, 2013 AMERICA’S accountancy watchdog has voted to bring in sweeping new rules on audits for listed companies. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, set up in the wake of the Enron scandal, said yesterday auditors should go beyond the current practice of giving just three boilerplate paragraphs of opinion alongside a pass or fail mark. The [...]
