CEBR: house values will rise August 18, 2011 House prices will rise by nearly a sixth by 2015, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). It forecast a 14 per cent rise by the middle of the decade with the depressed rate of housebuilding leading to an increasing shortage of accommodation. The level of home ownership is currently 68 per cent, [...]
Holcim hit by strong franc and cost rises August 18, 2011 CEMENT maker Holcim yesterday said the record strength of the Swiss franc combined with soaring raw material and energy costs to hit its second-quarter profits. Holcim’s operating earnings fell more than a fifth in the three months to the end of June, to 1.1bn francs (£843m) and net income dropped 14.9 per cent to 464m [...]
Ofcom fines TalkTalk £3m August 18, 2011 OFCOM has handed out a £3m fine to telecoms provider TalkTalk after it incorrectly billed tens of thousands of consumers for services they had not received. TalkTalk yesterday said it was “disappointed” by the size of the fine – a record for a telecoms company – but said it will not appeal it. After a [...]
Google’s $12.5bn Motorola bid includes an eye-watering break fee of $2.5bn August 18, 2011 GOOGLE will be forced to pay Motorola a staggering $2.5bn (£1.5bn) if it fails to clear regulatory hurdles with its $12.5bn takeover bid. The mammoth break fee represents 20 per cent of the proposed price, compared to AT&T’s fee of $3bn in its planned $39bn takeover of T-Mobile USA, which is just seven per cent. [...]
Lenovo cedes ground to Apple in its native China August 18, 2011 APPLE’S sales have taken over those of Lenovo in China for the first time. As the third-largest personal computer company in the world by shipment volume, the Chinese firm holds the top spot as the industry’s fastest-growing firm for the seventh quarter consecutively. It announced yesterday that its China sales rose 23.4 per cent to [...]
DOLLARS DOWN: WHO LOSES FROM FRANC RISE August 18, 2011 HOLCIM is just the latest in a long line of major corporates citing Switzerland’s record-high safe haven currency as a factor behind a dip in their fortunes. The strength of the currency has depreciated dollar and euro-denominated revenues and profits, while input costs and local production costs have rocketed, and output prices have to be [...]
Firms feel Swiss pain now but more is coming August 18, 2011 THE franc was steady yesterday thanks to a decision by the Swiss central bank to add massive liquidity to the market. But it has been a very different story for the year so far – as markets have worsened, investors have piled into francs with an appetite mirrored only in their buying of gold. Deemed [...]
Foster’s turns down new SABMiller bid August 18, 2011 AUSTRALIAN brewer Foster’s yesterday rejected a $10bn (£6.1bn) offer from rival SABMiller for the second time as shareholders hold out for a better offer from the global brewing giant. SABMiller announced on Wednesday it would go directly to shareholders to gain about half of Australia’s beer market, with a repeated offer of A$4.90 a share. [...]
Shorting hedgies outpace the S&P 500 during July August 18, 2011 GLOOMY sentiment among investors bolstered the return on hedge funds driven by short-selling strategies but hurt merger arbitrage managers last month, according to research released yesterday. The strongest average returns in July were Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) – with a 2.70 per cent return – and short-sellers at 2.21 per cent, the EDHEC-Risk Institute reported. [...]
Asahi toasts acquisition as private equity firms sell Independent Liquor August 18, 2011 PRIVATE equity firms Pacific Equity Partners and Unitas were yesterday toasting the sale of their drinks group Independent Liquor to Japanese brewer Asahi for $1.3bn (£787m). Asahi, the maker of Super Dry beer, will buy all the outstanding shares of Flavoured Beverages Group, the parent company of New Zealand-based Independent. PEP and Unitas, formerly known [...]
