BEST OF THE BROKERS October 5, 2009 TRAVIS PERKINSRoyal Bank of Scotland said that Travis Perkins continues to manage its way through a difficult, but expected, merchanting market with DIY surprisingly resilient. It upgraded its forecasts to “buy” from “hold” with a target price increased to 925p. The firm’s shares remain the brokers prefered merchant play. HMV GROUPGoldman Sachs upgraded HMV to [...]
Half of takeover talks ending in no deal October 5, 2009 HALF of all takeover talks targeting UK listed companies now end without a deal being struck, according to law firm EMW Picton Howell. The findings underscore the difficulties would-be buyers of listed firms are having in putting together funding for their takeover plans. EMW said that 52 per cent of buyout talks ended without a [...]
BA September passenger figures dash hopes of a recovery in aviation sector October 5, 2009 FLAG carrier British Airways (BA) carried 0.8 per cent fewer passengers in September year-on-year, dashing hopes the commercial aviation industry was recovering from the deep slump caused by the global recession. The airline, whose alliance with American Airlines and Iberia is being scrutinised by Europe’s competition watchdog, said yesterday its premium, or business class, passenger [...]
Construction sector faces no recovery for two years October 5, 2009 CONSTRUCTION industry experts yesterday said they do not expect any recovery in the sector’s fortunes until 2011 following the sharpest decline in output on record. Despite some encouraging signs that the wider economy is creeping out of a recession, the construction output is expected to fall by 15 per cent this year, and a further [...]
PwC details PlanB for Lehman October 5, 2009 LEHMAN Brothers’ European administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has put forward a proposal to distribute $8.9bn (£5.6bn) of the collapsed Wall Street giant’s assets directly to creditors. PwC said it would seek to entice creditors into a voluntary contractual arrangement which would see them agree to a settlement avoiding a protracted court case. The administrator said the [...]
Tesco succeeds in 514m sale and leaseback deal October 5, 2009 BRITAIN’S biggest retailer, Tesco, said yesterday it had carried out a sale and leaseback deal for property assets valued at £514m. The transaction, structured as a 50-50 joint venture with an unnamed UK pension fund, represents the latest phase in the firm’s ongoing programme to release value from its property portfolio. The deal involves 15 [...]
Wolfson says profit hit by iPhone loss October 5, 2009 SHARES in Wolfson Microelectronics fell yesterday after the chipmaker issued a profit warning, blaming its failure to get the contract for the new iPhone for a slump in orders. Wolfson, which makes components for Samsung and Apple products, said that orders for the fourth quarter of 2009 would be worse that expected, and that backlogs [...]
CAN WOLFSON RECOVER FROM THE LOSS OF THE iPHONE? October 5, 2009 ED WOOLFITT GALVAN RESEARCH“Although Wolfson Microelectronics is confident of ramping up revenues in 2010, today’s announcement serves as a revenue and profits warning for the current year. The outperformance by the shares since the interim results makes the current share price look a long way ahead of events.” ANTHONY MILLER TECHMARKETVIEW“It just goes to show [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS October 5, 2009 KPMGThe accountancy firm has appointed Rachel Campbell as global head of people, performance and culture and a member of its global executive team. Campbell is currently head of people for the firm’s European business and has led its award-winning “Employer of Choice” strategy in the UK. Prior to that, she was an audit partner specialising [...]
Balfour wins 134m contract October 5, 2009 Engineering firm Balfour Beatty yesterday said it has won two contracts in the education sector worth a total of £134m. Britain’s biggest infrastructure contractor, which builds roads, railways and schools, has won a £77m contract to build new student accommodation at the University of Exeter, in the south west of Britain. And the company has [...]
