Ladbrokes profits slump February 18, 2010 LADBROKES was on a losing streak in 2009 with the recession leading punters to place fewer and lower bets. Pre-tax profits slumped 28 per cent to £191.3m after a tough year in which it was forced to tap shareholders for £274.6m in October. The UK’s biggest bookmaker said its 2,000 UK betting shops suffered a [...]
VT rejects improved offer from Babcock February 18, 2010 BABCOCK International has had a renewed offer to buy defence firm VT Group for up to £1.29bn rejected. VT said the latest cash and shares offer worth between 680 and 715 pence a share was only a “small improvement” on the 633.9 pence previously offered and “continued to significantly undervalue VT and its prospects.” The [...]
BAE profits down after truck deal lost February 18, 2010 BAE Systems fell into loss last year after a major write-down linked to its purchase of US military group Armor Holdings. The British arms manufacturer said it suffered a net loss of £67m in 2009 compared with profit after tax totalling £1.7bn in 2008. BAE said it was forced to writedown £973m after Armor lost [...]
Pay freeze Britain February 17, 2010 PRIVATE sector workers have suffered a pay freeze over the past year, official figures out yesterday revealed. But their counterparts in the public sector enjoyed an inflation-busting 3.7 per cent rise, confirming that the government sector has so far been barely affected by the worst recession since the 1930s. Private sector pay (including bonuses) failed [...]
Babcock working on a higher takeover bid for rival VT Group February 17, 2010 MARITIME engineer Babcock is demanding access to the books of VT Group as anticipation builds of a fresh bid for the support services firm priced at around 700p per share, valuing the company at £1.26bn. Babcock is growing increasingly frustrated at the lack of cooperation from VT’s management, which yesterday embarked on a whirlwind round [...]
Spanish bond wins approval February 17, 2010 SPAIN drew a stampede of demand for a government bond issue yesterday that brought relief for the peripheral eurozone countries. Some analysts said a successful Spanish sale could open the door for the crisis-ridden Greek government to launch a 10-year bond after European Union leaders pledged support last week for Athens’ plans to shrink its [...]
Public sector’s turn to face squeeze February 17, 2010 THERE is a simple reason why unemployment in Britain, while tragically elevated, has remained under control despite the recession: private sector workers have been on a pay freeze for well over a year. Many have even agreed to pay cuts, a revolutionary embrace of flexibility which has saved countless jobs and demolished the central Keynesian [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 17, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES DISEASE SENDS SALMON PRICES LEAPING Salmon prices are jumping after the collapse of the Chilean industry through fish disease caused a sharp decline in global supply. Wholesale prices for Norwegian-produced Atlantic salmon have risen 20.6 per cent since the start of the year , says Statistics Norway. That has extended a year-long rally [...]
Fed cautious over growth February 17, 2010 THE Federal Reserve is slightly more bullish about the state of the US economy, upgrading its prediction for growth for the year from three to 3.2 per cent. The minutes of its January policy meeting, released yesterday, also reveal unemployment is expected to drop in the last quarter of 2010 but only from 9.7 to [...]
$1.5bn Beijing investment fund February 17, 2010 Beijing’s sovereign wealth fund, China Investment, said yesterday it will invest $1.5bn (£950m) in the private equity secondary market. It will set up custom accounts with three of the biggest specialists in buying second-hand buy-out and venture capital fund interests.
