AkzoNobel swings to a €2.4bn net loss as Dulux dogs the firm October 18, 2012 DUTCH paintmaker AkzoNobel yesterday plunged to a quarterly net loss of €2.4bn (£1.95bn) after taking a €2.5bn writedown on its 2008 purchase of Dulux paint maker ICI. The world’s biggest paint manufacturer is also looking for more cost cuts on top of the €500m of savings announced last year to cope with weak consumer and [...]
Sales growth eases at Nestle as demand cools in Asian markets October 18, 2012 NESTLE’S sales growth slowed more than expected in the first nine months of the year as demand cooled in the emerging markets driving the world’s biggest food company. Underlying sales growth at the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Maggi soup slowed to 6.1 per cent from 6.6 per cent in the first half. Growth [...]
Gold Fields could fire 11,000 miners if they refuse to work October 18, 2012 UP TO 11,000 Gold Fields workers could be dismissed this morning if they refuse to return to work to end a five-week strike at the South African miner’s KDC West operation. The five-week strike, which has cost Gold Fields around ZAR1.3bn (£93m) in revenue, has lost the precious metal miner around 65,000 ounces of gold. [...]
Cairn hails portfolio progress as it confirms Morocco drilling October 18, 2012 CAIRN Energy yesterday said that it was continuing to rebalance the business to deliver growth as it eyed exploration opportunities. The explorer has just acquired two frontier exploration blocks in Morocco, with the first well targeted in the fourth quarter of next year, it said in an interim management statement. The FTSE 100 oil and [...]
BlackRock rides out fundraising storm to float US income trust October 18, 2012 BLACKROCK, the world’s biggest fund manager, yesterday overcame tough market conditions to close a £65m initial public offering (IPO) for a US equity income trust set to list in London. The fund manager said the BlackRock North American Income Trust, which will invest in American equities, would list on the main market of the London [...]
Chinese sales lift Renishaw October 18, 2012 British engineer Renishaw more than doubled its first quarter profit after strong demand in its core Chinese market. The group, which supplies products used in industries from manufacturing to dentistry, reported pre-tax profit of £28.3m for the three months to the end of September, up 108 per cent on the same period last year. UK [...]
No Games boost for Eurostar October 18, 2012 Eurostar said yesterday the Olympics had not given a boost to its traffic figures, as tourists took more trips during the Games but stayed away in July. Around 2.6m passengers travelled on the cross-Channel rail service in the quarter, flat on a year ago, while sales revenues fell five per cent to £188m due to [...]
Hochschild on track for full year October 18, 2012 South America-focused miner Hochschild yesterday said silver output for the third quarter came in at 5.1m ounces, as it reaffirmed its 2012 production guidance of 20m ounces of silver. The FTSE 250 miner reported strong brownfield exploration results over the quarter, at both new and existing sites, including the discovery of a new vein in [...]
City Moves | Who’s switching jobs October 18, 2012 Barclays Mike Rigby has been appointed head of manufacturing, transport and logistics in Barclays’s corporate banking division. He joined the bank in 2008, and was previously corporate director in the manufacturing team. Rigby has also held roles at HSBC. Ernst & Young John Clarke has been appointed partner in the professional services firm’s operational transaction [...]
Best of the Brokers October 18, 2012 AVIVA Morgan Stanley rates the insurer “overweight” and cheers it as one of the key picks in the sector, but has moved its target price from 406p to 404p after fine-tuning earnings forecasts. XCHANGING Panmure Gordon has upgraded the IT and outsourcing firm from “sell” to “hold” and hiked its target from 75p to 115p, [...]
