Comparison site pays out a £20m divi August 2, 2011 PRICE comparison site moneysupermarket.com yesterday announced a special £20m dividend payment triggered by a 28 per cent revenue rise in the first half. Founder Simon Nixon, who owns 52 per cent of the shares, will pocket a £14m payout. The company rejected suggestions that Nixon, who has hinted he might sell his stake, forced the [...]
Profits jump at Weir Group August 2, 2011 BRITISH pumps and valves maker Weir has posted a 24 per cent jump in first half pre-tax profit, helped by booming mining and oil industries, and predicted its full-year results would be better than previously hoped. “We now expect profits for the full year to be somewhat ahead of our previous expectations,” Weir’s chief executive [...]
BMW drives ahead on China’s craving for luxury as Toyota sales hit by quake August 2, 2011 BMW yesterday tore through market expectations for second-quarter profits as more wealthy Chinese drove away with its revamped 5 Series saloon car. The company reported an 83 per cent jump in quarterly operating profit at its luxury car business, underpinned by surging sales of the 5 series and a 4.8 percentage point widening in its [...]
Meggitt beats forecasts as aerospace boosts earnings August 2, 2011 MEGGITT, the British aircraft parts supplier, has reported an impressive increase in profits as a result of the recovery in the global aerospace industry. The company outdid analysts’ expectations yesterday when it posted a 27 per cent rise in first-half underlying profits, with statutory pre-tax profit surging 69 per cent to £112.2m in the six [...]
Carpetright in bleak update August 2, 2011 CARPETRIGHT, Britain’s biggest floor coverings retailer, said yesterday it did not expect an improvement in trading conditions any time soon, as it stemmed a fall in UK sales by cutting prices and making a big push into beds and laminates. The firm, which has issued three profit warnings this year, said sales fell 0.2 per [...]
SABMiller in China tie-up August 2, 2011 DRINKS giant SAB Miller has stepped up its presence in China via a $47m (£28.9m) deal for Hangzhou Xihu Beer. The Peroni brewer bought out the remaining 55 per cent stake in Xihu via its CR Snow joint venture, which is co-owned by China Resources Enterprise. The majority share in Xihu was previously owned by [...]
UK CINEMA TAKINGS UP BUT VIEWERS DOWN August 2, 2011 Box office takings were up in the UK last year despite a fall in the number of cinema visits. The impact of 3D and premium ticket pricing and films like Toy Story 3 (above) fuelled the lift in revenues. Box office receipts reached £988m in 2010, up five per cent on 2009, according to a [...]
Ceramics drive Cookson growth August 2, 2011 Cookson, the British industrial materials group, has reported higher first-half profit, helped by strong growth in its ceramics and electronics divisions. Despite rising raw material prices, revenues in the company’s ceramics division rose by 16 per cent. In the electronics division, revenue grew 21 per cent. The company said it expects full-year performance to be [...]
Wolseley completes credit deal August 2, 2011 Wolseley, the builders’ merchant, has concluded the successful syndication of two five-and-a-quarter-year revolving credit facilities, with a combined total of £820m. The firm said the facilities will replace existing committed bank facilities of £1.6bn that were due to mature August 2013, and that the move to current market pricing will save it approximately £12m per [...]
Drax sees drop in full year profits August 2, 2011 Drax, the operator of the UK’s largest coal-fired power station, beat analysts’ first-half core earnings forecasts yesterday with a three per cent rise, but warned that full-year profit would fall as coal prices continue to climb. Drax reported first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £190m.
