BT opens wallet to sign Beeb’s Jake Humphrey September 18, 2012 A FTER a breakthrough 2012 that saw him shine as one of the lead anchors of the BBC’s Olympic coverage, the Beeb’s Formula 1 frontman Jake Humphrey has been snapped up by BT to present its Premier League offering from next season. Humphrey’s signing is the latest big money move from BT, after it shelled [...]
Panda-monium in Washington as investor fuels bearish boom September 18, 2012 BILLIONAIRE private equity investor David Rubenstein, co-founder of Carlyle Group, has added another string to his bow – as panda godparent. On Monday, Rubenstein got the latest return on his investment in the form of a new giant panda cub called Mei Xiang, which was born thanks to techniques developed at a facility in Washington [...]
Ford suffers as falling car sales across Europe hit automakers September 18, 2012 EUROPEAN car sales fell 8.5 per cent in August, making it the 11th straight monthly decline. The drop was led by Ford, General Motors and Fiat as mid-market brands bore the brunt of the slump in markets including Italy, France and Germany. The region recorded 722,483 registrations last month, the Association of European Automakers said, [...]
Record profits at construction firm Galliford September 18, 2012 CONSTRUCTION company Galliford Try reported an 80 per cent rise in profit for the fiscal year, helped by the performance of its housebuilding segment, and said it was confident of further growth. The company, which also takes up government infrastructure projects, said its construction segment has already secured 82 per cent of its projected workload [...]
Fitzrovia is moving upmarket with apartments priced at £12m September 18, 2012 FITZROVIA is moving upmarket from its humble arty roots with a development of 237 apartments priced at up to £12.5m each. The central London area, once known as a run-down artistic neighbourhood, will become the home of Fitzroy Place, on the site of the former Middlesex Hospital in Mortimer Street. Developer Exemplar has already sold [...]
Yammer in the loop at Silicon Roundabout September 18, 2012 SILICON Roundabout has welcomed its latest tech tenant in Yammer, a social network for companies. San Francisco-based Yammer unveiled its EMEA management team last December, and announced in March that it was opening an office in Shoreditch.
Kloppers bags $6.6m as BHP ices exec wages September 18, 2012 THE BASE salary for miner BHP Billiton’s senior executives will be frozen for the next year, the FTSE 100 firm’s annual report revealed yesterday, as it battles to counteract falling iron ore prices. Chief executive Marius Kloppers received no short-term incentive as well as having his salary frozen, due to the $3.3bn (£2bn) shale gas [...]
Faroe Petroleum profit jumps after a surge in oil production September 18, 2012 NORTH Sea-focused Faroe Petroleum yesterday posted a sharp rise in profit, boosted by increased production thanks to a number of acquisitions. The Aim-listed producer reported that profit after tax for the six months to 30 June increased to £3.7m, up from a £10.1m loss over the first half of last year. A “significant increase” in [...]
Dole bags $1.7bn from sale of businesses to Japan’s Itochu September 18, 2012 DOLE Food Company said yesterday it will sell two businesses to Japan’s Itochu for $1.7bn (£1.05bn) in cash – a deal that will help the world’s largest fruit and vegetable producer pay down its heavy debt load while expanding Itochu’s food presence in new markets such as China. Dole has been struggling with volatile demand [...]
FedEx lowers its 2013 profit view as stretched customers cut back September 18, 2012 FEDEX lowered its 2013 profit target yesterday, saying earnings could slide as much as six per cent for the year, as a weakening world economy prompts customers to shift toward lower-priced and slower shipping options. The world’s second-largest package delivery company said makers of electronics and mobile phones had begun to move more of their [...]
