Danone seeks more savings as austerity in Europe dents sales December 13, 2012 FRENCH food group Danone said yesterday that it plans to cut jobs in Europe in an attempt to save €200m (£162.2m) over the next two years. The company, the biggest yoghurt maker in the world, said job losses will be restricted to managerial roles, and will be based on voluntary departures, but did not comment [...]
Rolls-Royce secures Brazil deal December 13, 2012 British engineering giant Rolls-Royce yesterday said it had secured a £100m contract to supply integrated power and propulsion systems for seven offshore drill ships for Brazilian oil company Petrobras. The ships will be built at the Atlantico Sul shipyard, and will support the extraction of oil from between 2,000 and 3,000 metres below the Atlantic [...]
Suffolk win for Balfour Beatty December 13, 2012 Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty said yesterday it had been selected as preferred bidder on a £200m contract to maintain highways in Suffolk. The contract, initially for five years, has the possibility of an extension to 10 years. If approved, Balfour Beatty will be responsible for designing and implementing highway maintenence and improvement works in the [...]
Adobe Systems earnings rocket December 13, 2012 Software maker Adobe Systems, the firm behind Photoshop and Acrobat, yesterday posted a higher fourth-quarter profit on lower expenses. Net income rose to $222.3m (£138m) from $173.7m a year earlier. Revenue was flat at $1.15bn. Deferred revenue grew by $59.3m to a record $619.6m, the firm said in its fourth quarter figures yesterday, while subscriptions [...]
Who’s switching jobs December 13, 2012 Carmignac Gestion Vincent Steenman has been appointed to the asset management firm’s portfolio management team. He joins from Zadig Asset Management, where he was a partner. Steenman has also held roles at the LVMH Group Arnault Family Office and Morgan Stanley. Allele Fund John Shea has been appointed to the investment fund’s advisory board. He [...]
Best of the Brokers December 13, 2012 JOHNSTON PRESS Panmure Gordon has kept a strong “buy” rating on the publishing group and increased its target price to 18p. The broker says being elevated to the FTSE Small Cap index will have a positive effect on shares. TRAVIS PERKINS UBS has kept its “neutral” rating for Travis Perkins, and lowered its price target [...]
Ominous fiscal cliff talk from Fed’s Ben Bernanke spooks the FTSE 100 December 13, 2012 BRITAINS’ leading share index fell yesterday as concerns over US fiscal negotiations resurfaced, prompting investors to consolidate recent gains made during the longest continuous rally of the year. The FTSE 100 index was down 16.24 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 5,929.61, having closed 0.4 per cent higher at a nine-month closing peak on Wednesday [...]
Wall Street’s rally halts over economic fears December 13, 2012 THE S&P 500 ended its six-day winning streak yesterday, retreating as worries intensified that Washington’s “fiscal cliff” negotiations were dragging on with little progress. Anxiety about the drawn-out talks between Democrats and Republicans was enough to offset encouraging data on retail sales and jobless claims . There is concern that tax hikes and spending cuts, [...]
Green light for shale: Now Britain will benefit from the dash for gas December 13, 2012 FORGET the Energy Bill; the announcement that exploration for shale gas can now resume is the big energy story of 2012. In Lancashire alone, there is enough shale gas in the ground to meet Britain’s needs for decades. But the big question is what proportion can be developed at a reasonable cost. Yesterday’s decision means [...]
At the end of the day the business cliche just masks woolly mindedness December 13, 2012 LET’S open the kimono. The language of business is a joke. It now seems to be best practice to get your ducks in a row for corporate meetings by memorising phrases like value proposition, point person and core competency. At the end of the day, buzz phrases and bizarre metaphors may take it to the [...]
