AG Barr silent on merger plan as income dips September 24, 2012 AG BARR, the Scottish soft drinks maker, yesterday remained silent on its proposed £1.4bn tie-up with larger rival Britvic as it shrugged off a fall in half-year profit. The group, best known for its bright orange Irn-Bru drink, said pre-tax profits fell eight per cent to £14.9m in the six months to 28 July despite [...]
Dairy Crest’s half-year profits to fall as it pays more for milk September 24, 2012 DAIRY Crest warned of lower half-year profits yesterday as its core milk business continued to face “unprecedented market conditions”. But the milk supplier left its profit forecasts for 2013 unchanged. Dairy Crest also became the latest milk supplier to increase the price it pays farmers for their milk following July’s protests. The company, which buys [...]
Finsbury Foods reports great bake-off as sales top £200m September 24, 2012 FINSBURY Food Group, the cake and bread maker, yesterday posted a surge in full-year profits across all of its divisions after sales exceeded £200m for the first time. The Aim-listed company, which supplies retailers including Waitrose, Tesco and Thorntons, said adjusted profits before tax rose 11.6 per cent to £6.5m for the year to 30 [...]
Music Festivals set to go into administration September 24, 2012 THE COMPANY that runs the Hop Farm and Benicassim music festivals yesterday confirmed it was set to go into administration after the firm suspended shares last week. Music Festivals, which also operates Finsbury Park’s Feis Festival and the newly launched Costa de Fuego event in Spain, admitted on Friday it had failed to raise funds [...]
QinetiQ first half figures up on delivery of grenade protectors September 24, 2012 DEFENCE technology company QinetiQ yesterday reported a better than expected first half performance, helped by strong trade at its global products and UK services divisions. QinetiQ, which makes high-tech military equipment such as bomb disposal robots and sniper detectors, said it had delivered the majority of two large orders for the Q-Net vehicle survivability product, [...]
Spirent sells off £61m PG Drives September 24, 2012 Communications tester Spirent yesterday announced the $61m (£39.5m) sale of its system division PG Drives Technology to US defence component maker Curtiss-Wright. PG Drives designs and makes power supply controllers for electric vehicles. Spirent chief executive Bill Burns said the disposal was a “step forward in Spirent’s strategy to focus the group’s activities on the [...]
Double digit growth at Diploma September 24, 2012 Technical products firms Diploma said it expects turnover to rise 13 per cent this year, but warned that profit margins had slipped due to a number of purchases and a stronger pound. The FTSE 250 firm, which supplies the life sciences and seals industries, bought US-based J Royal in December for £11m, boosting revenue. Diploma [...]
Smurfit Kappa expands in LatAm September 24, 2012 Irish packaging group Smurfit Kappa has agreed to buy a US containerboard manufacturer for £210m, in a deal that will boost its fast-growing Latin American business. Smurfit agreed to buy Orange County Container Group using its existing cash resources, the company said in a statement. OCCG, which employs 2,800 people, mostly in Mexico, will deliver [...]
Shore Capital’s shares soar as revenues rise September 24, 2012 INVESTMENT bank Shore Capital reported steady profits in the first half of 2012 yesterday, with strong growth expected to continue in part thanks to its German telecoms investments. Group revenues came in at £17.8m, up 28.3 per cent on the second half of 2011, and down 12.7 per cent on the first half of last [...]
Gleacher sees jump in turnover despite slow merger markets September 24, 2012 INVESTMENT bank Gleacher Shacklock will this week report increased revenues through 2011, despite choppy markets and falling profits in many larger institutions in the sector. However profits stagnated, and the firm increased spending on staff with overall headcount increasing by six to 48. Much of the firm’s income comes from fees on mergers and acquisitions [...]
