TeleCity profit lift and Irish deal fail to impress market August 8, 2011 TELECITY shares slumped almost seven per cent yesterday despite results that were welcomed by analysts across the board. The data-centre operator revealed a 45 per cent jump in adjusted pretax profit to £31m for the first half on 20 per cent higher revenue of £112.2m. Chief executive Michael Tobin (pictured) also announced the closure of [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO THESE RESULTS MEAN FOR TELECITY? August 8, 2011 SIMON STRONG | EVOLUTION SECURITIES Revenue of £112m is in line with Ebitda of £49.4m and is slightly ahead of consensus of £49.2m We are raising our 2011 to 2012 forecast by two per cent to £100m, with the acquisition of Data Electronics Group likely to take this to around £103m. The recent fall in [...]
Escher Group float raises $25m August 8, 2011 Shares in postal outsourcing technology provider Escher Group traded for the first time on London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) yesterday, after the company raised $25m (£15.4m) ahead of the float. A total of 17,033,097 ordinary shares were issued on admission, giving the company a market capitalisation of around $47.1m. Escher Group provides automated postal counters to [...]
Unilever sells Ragu sauce brand August 8, 2011 Consumer goods group Unilever yesterday agreed to sell its Ragu and Chicken Tonight sauce brands in the UK and Ireland to privately-owned food group Symington’s. The two brands, which had combined sales of around £20m in 2010, will remain under Unilever’s ownership in all other markets, while the Anglo-Dutch group will focus on its Bertolli [...]
Royal London merger hits 110 jobs August 8, 2011 Royal London, Britain’s biggest mutually-owned insurer, said a net 110 jobs would go as it absorbs merger partner Royal Liver. Royal London will close its office in Liverpool at the cost of 222 jobs and transfer functions to offices in Wilmslow, where 105 new roles will be created.
Jabre Capital poaches a top trader from Goldman August 8, 2011 SWISS hedge fund Jabre Capital has poached a top-performing young trader from Goldman Sachs, the latest in a string of fresh hires since May. The firm has added 27-year-old Mona El Isa, who was one of Goldman’s best proprietary cash equities traders and was lauded in Trader Monthly’s top 30 traders aged under 30 list [...]
BMW GROUP RACES TO BEST EVER JULY August 8, 2011 BMW Group has seen a 7.6 per cent year-on-year increase in sales to record its best ever July sales. A total of 129,094 BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brand cars were sold worldwide last month, with the group predicting its best ever year with over 1.6m sales. The company reported strong growth in emerging markets, with [...]
China to take part in GDF Suez project August 8, 2011 CHINA’S sovereign wealth fund is to buy a stake in GDF Suez’s gas exploration and production unit and to finance the French utility’s expansion in power-thirsty Asia, sources said yesterday. The multi-billion dollar memorandum of understanding with China Investment Corp (CIC) is the latest bid by the world’s biggest utility to boost its presence in [...]
AirAsia in share swap for stake in Malaysian carrier August 8, 2011 MALAYSIAN Airline System (MAS) and rival AirAsia are planning a share swap that would give AirAsia’s parent a 20 per cent stake in Malaysia’s national airline, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said yesterday. Under the deal, Malaysia’s state investment arm, Khazanah Nasional, which currently owns close to 70 per cent of MAS, [...]
Hannover Re upbeat on 2011 as profits rise August 8, 2011 HANNOVER Re has predicted it will comfortably reach its 2011 profit target, barring extraordinary damage claims and with only limited impact from the US and Eurozone debt crises. The world’s third-biggest reinsurer also unveiled forecast beating second-quarter net profit of €166m (£143.9m) yesterday. This was up about four per cent from a year earlier and [...]
