BDO and PKF in talks for audit merger deal November 7, 2012 BDO and PKF are in advanced talks to merge their UK operations, the accountancy and advisory firms revealed yesterday. A tie-up, which is expected to take place early next year, would give the group extra firepower to compete with Grant Thornton for mid-market audit and business advisory clients. The firms said the enlarged company would [...]
Ageas UK profits hit record high November 7, 2012 AGEAS UK, the British arm of the Belgian insurance giant, yesterday announced its best ever results as pre-tax profits jumped 36.4 per cent to £106.7m for the first nine months of this year. Total income crept up by less than one per cent but a strong underwriting performance allowed profits to surge. Barry Smith, chief [...]
First freezes its dividend due to rail uncertainty November 7, 2012 THE WEST Coast rail fiasco has prompted transport company FirstGroup to freeze its interim dividend and consider scrapping a planned rise next year. First, whose winning bid for the franchise was discarded by the government in September, said the resulting uncertainty means it will review its full year dividend in May. By then, First hopes [...]
How is firstgroup faring in a tough time for transport firms? November 7, 2012 GERT ZONNEVELD | PANMURE GORDON As expected the company is cautious in its outlook statement but is confident of achieving its goals to enhance performance and deliver improved growth and returns. The repositioning of the UK division clearly has significant execution risk. Rail is a big unknown. DOUGLAS MCNEILL | CHARLES STANLEY The second anniversary [...]
Mobile traffic drives up sales at Shop Direct November 7, 2012 SHOP DIRECT, the home-shopping group owned by the billionaire Barclay brothers, yesterday said sales through mobile devices such as the ipad and smart phones helped boost annual sales. The company behind Littlewoods, isme and very.co.uk reported that overall sales grew 0.4 per cent to £1.6bn in the year to 30 June. Online sales grew by [...]
CapCo tightens hold on West End November 7, 2012 CAPITAL & Counties (CapCo) said yesterday it has snapped up a further £60m worth of sites in London’s Covent Garden area as it steps up its expansion in the area. The group raised £149m in July to accelerate growth plans and has since bought properties on Wellington Street, Floral Street and Henrietta Street with offices, [...]
Rathbone raises £25m to power more takeovers November 7, 2012 RATHBONE Brothers, one of the oldest wealth managers in the City, yesterday snapped up boutique equity manager Taylor Young Investment Management (TYIM) and raised £24.7m from investors to give it additional firepower for more acquisitions. FTSE 250 listed Rathbones, which traces its trading roots back to 1742, will pay up to £15m for the Cannon [...]
Carlyle Group terminates plan to snap up troubled Chemring November 7, 2012 JUMBO US based alternative asset manager Carlyle Group yesterday pulled out of plans to buy British defence firm Chemring following months of talks between the two firms. Carlyle, which owns Dunkin’ Donuts and Hertz car rental, had already sought two extensions from the Takeover Panel to try and strike a deal with the FTSE 250 [...]
Old Mutual sharpens focus on emerging market investments November 7, 2012 SAVINGS and investment group Old Mutual yesterday revealed a surge in its emerging markets focus after growing sales of its fund management products by nearly a fifth in the sector in just three months. The Anglo-African company, which merged its UK asset management arm Old Mutual Asset Managers with Skandia Investment Group in April, increased [...]
Investors fall out of love with equities November 7, 2012 UK institutional pension funds further cut their exposure to equity markets while boosting holdings of fixed income and hedge funds last year, official data out yesterday reveal. Pension schemes, which invest billions of pounds of workers’ money in markets, cut average equity holdings to 38.5 per cent in 2012, a drop from a figure of [...]
