Olympic contractor WS Atkins to help New York as profits rise November 15, 2012 ENGINEERING giant WS Atkins said yesterday it had won a contract to help the US Federal Emergency Management Agency clean-up after Hurricane Sandy, as it announced a rise in pre-tax profits. Profits before tax for the first half of the year rose 14 per cent to £50.4m, from £44.2m 12 months earlier, as revenues dropped [...]
Heritage ups resource estimate November 15, 2012 Explorer Heritage Oil hailed its acquisition of a Nigerian oil block yesterday, increasing its net proven and probable reserves to 412m barrels of oil. The acquisition also boosted its full-year net production to an estimated 11,350 barrels of oil a day. Heritage is ramping up production at the Nigerian oil fields, and yesterday said that [...]
Increasing cash flows at Premier November 15, 2012 Oil and gas explorer Premier Oil yesterday said it anticipated “sharply increasing” cash flows for both this year and next, driven by rising production and stronger oil prices. Average output at the firm for the year to October was 57,300 barrels of oil equivalent a day, up from 40,400 over the same period last year. [...]
BBA Aviation hits headwinds November 15, 2012 BBA Aviation’s shares fell three per cent yesterday after the plane support services firm said trading since July has been tough. BBA said group revenues have fallen three per cent on a year ago, knocked by flight disruption from Hurricane Sandy as well as broader weakness in the market. However, the group thinks the rate [...]
Record London rents keep up investor profits November 15, 2012 LONDON rents hit another record high in October as landlords celebrate solid returns on investment, according to the LSL buy-to-let index published today. Average monthly rents in the capital jumped 0.9 per cent to £1,102, breaking the £1,100 mark for the first time. That represents a seven per cent hike on the year, and holds [...]
A tough-minded strategy gives 3i fresh hope of growth November 15, 2012 SIMON Borrows took a distinguished City pedigree to private equity house 3i in May, and his stewardship has bought the group some time to put its turnaround plans, announced in June, into place. Even activist shareholder Laxey Partners seems to have made peace with the arrangements. Yesterday’s half-year results gave further grounds for holding fire. [...]
UK car manufacturers bounce back after slump in September November 15, 2012 CARMAKERS bounced back in October, with the number of vehicles rolling off production lines rising by 6.4 per cent during the month. Britain produced 148,927 cars and commercial vehicles last month, a strong rise to help reverse a blip in September when output fell seven per cent, according to figures from the Society of Motor [...]
Should quotas be imposed to appoint women to boards? November 15, 2012 JULIAN TAVORA CGD No, I don’t believe they should be. As a matter of principle I think board members should be decided based on their merit and skill. SIMONE SKEATES FIDELITY WORLDWIDE INVESTMENTS It’s a tricky question. You want to see women all the way at the top but ideally they need to earn the [...]
Sandy hurts both employment and manufacturing in the US November 15, 2012 SUPERSTORM Sandy drove a surge in new claims for US jobless benefits last week and hit factory activity in November, providing early signs of how heavily the storm could hit the world’s largest economy in the fourth quarter. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 78,000 to a seasonally adjusted 439,000, the highest level since [...]
Retailers slam tax on crockery from China November 15, 2012 AN EU tax on imports of Chinese crockery has been condemned by retailers as pointless and harmful to the poor. The European Commission yesterday announced the tax in response to claims by an anonymous EU manufacturer that Chinese producers are pushing their products onto the European market at artificially low prices. The taxes will add [...]
