Invensys stock climbs on bid reports as group heads for forecast profit drop May 14, 2012 INVENSYS shares were boosted by five per cent yesterday following reports this weekend that potential bidders are circling the engineering company. Siemens, General Electric, ABB and Emerson were said to have approached Invensys within the past few weeks in a sign that interest in the FTSE 250 company is intensifying. Analysts were divided over the [...]
Channel 4 ups UK investment May 14, 2012 CHANNEL 4 yesterday posted an annual pre-tax profit of £44m, down 19 per cent, as its share of viewing declined slightly. But revenues climbed by £6.2m to £941.4m, boosted by profits from box office success The Inbetweeners Movie, prompting the broadcaster to increase its budget for UK commissions by £5m to a historic high of [...]
News Corp to buy in China May 14, 2012 NEWS Corp said yesterday it has agreed to buy a 19.9 per cent stake in Bona Film Group, a Chinese film production and distribution company. The financials of the deal were not disclosed, although a market cap of $363m (£225.5m) points at a price under $70m. Murdoch’s conglomerate will acquire the stake directly from Bona’s [...]
FORMER YAHOO BOSS DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER May 14, 2012 SCOTT Thompson, the Yahoo chief executive who stepped down over the weekend following revelations that he lied about his academic record, has reportedly been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. A source said Thompson, who took the helm of Yahoo in January, resigned due to the diagnosis as well as the fiasco over his fabricated CV.
Global red tape holding back British exports May 14, 2012 TRADE barriers around the world are stopping small companies exporting and holding back efforts to rebalance the economy towards export-led growth, a survey has revealed today. Just 32 per cent of small exporters sell goods or services to the fast-growing BRIC economies, compared to 73 per cent of larger firms, according to a study by [...]
Under-employment soars as workers only get part time jobs May 14, 2012 THE NUMBER of men working part time because they cannot find a full-time job has more than doubled in the last four years, according to a new analysis of official data published today. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) found the number of under-employed men jumped from 293,000 in December 2007 to almost 600,000 in the [...]
Low-income households worse off after excessive use of credit May 14, 2012 BRITAIN’S low- to middle-income households were reliant on borrowing to fund much of their spending for more than a decade before the financial crisis, according to a report out today. The poorest 10 per cent of families outspent their income by 40 per cent by 2007, the Resolution Foundation revealed today. These huge burdens in [...]
China loosens credit rules to bolster flagging growth rates May 14, 2012 CHINESE authorities have cut the amount of money the country’s banks have to hold, in the hope of stimulating the economy and bolstering growth. The 50 basis point cut leaves the reserve ratio requirement at 20 per cent, effective from 18 May, allowing banks to boost lending by around 400-500bn yuan (£39.4bn to £49.2bn). Interest [...]
Japan moves to open some nuclear plants May 14, 2012 THE LOCAL assembly in a Japanese town that hosts a nuclear plant agreed yesterday it was necessary to restart two off-line reactors, its chairman said, the first such nod since all the country’s stations were halted after the Fukushima crisis. But further discussion lies ahead before two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co’s Ohi plant [...]
Essar Oil reports £60m quarterly loss as refining margins shrink May 14, 2012 ESSAR Oil reported a quarterly loss yesterday as refining margins weakened. The company, which is 87.09 per cent-owned by India-focused Essar Energy, reported a loss of 5.15bn rupees (£60m) for the fourth quarter to 31 March, compared with a profit of 3.2bn rupees for the equivalent period last year. The company has been hit by [...]
