Tata doubles Jaguar Land Rover funds February 21, 2012 TATA Motors will double investments in its Jaguar Land Rover brands to £1.5bn a year, even as the Indian carmaker warned that it will be a challenge to sustain high margins at its key profit generator. With soaring revenues and expanding margins, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has driven the company’s growth in recent quarters, as [...]
MAKING A SPLASH | Chinese duo strike gold in London February 20, 2012 LONDON’S magnificent new Olympic Aquatics Centre hosted its first day of competitive action yesterday with China’s divers taking gold in a World Cup event chosen to test the venue. World champions Qin Kai and Luo Yutong won the men’s synchronised 3-metres springboard ahead of Russia’s Ilya Zakharov and Evgeny Kuznetsov, while Malaysia’s Brian Nickson Lomas [...]
Fizz to fall out of Carlsberg profits in 2012 February 20, 2012 DANISH brewer Carlsberg yesterday warned its operating profits will be flat in 2012, hit by declining beer markets in northern and western Europea while its biggest market, Russia, will show a slow recovery. The world’s fourth largest brewer said yesterday it expects the Russian beer market to return to modest growth this year after a [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES HEDGE FUND PIONEER BACK FOR ASIA VENTURE William Bollinger, one of the pioneers of London’s hedge fund industry, has come out of retirement to launch a new venture – in Singapore. A protégé of the renowned investor Julian Robertson and a former donor to the Labour party, Mr Bollinger set up Egerton Capital, [...]
B&Q boss set for windfall as goals met February 16, 2012 KINGFISHER boss Ian Cheshire is in line for a windfall payout after the retailer said it was on track to meet analyst forecasts for a full-year profit of £800m. Cheshire is likely to receive shares worth up to £6.14m, after the owner of the B&Q chain beat two main targets set out in its 2008 [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 16, 2012 US Bank US Bank Global Corporate Trust Services has named Tom Cubitt, senior vice president, as leader of the bank’s European corporate trust business, based in London. Cubitt is responsible for US Bank’s securitisation and structured finance trust and agency business. The firm has also appointed Breige Tinnelly and Emma Hanley to run the London-based [...]
Scottish house price dip means good value buys February 16, 2012 SCOTLAND: land of hunting, shooting, fishing…and fortified castles set amid hundreds of acres selling for less than £3m, the cost of a mere flat in certain parts of London. As Jamie Macnab, of Savills’ Edinburgh office, says: “Someone said to me once that four square miles of London is worth more than the whole of [...]
Danone trims its targets on tough Europe February 15, 2012 FRENCH food group Danone trimmed its sales growth and margin targets for 2012, saying tough western European markets would hold back strong growth in emerging markets, which now account for more than half of sales. The world’s largest yoghurt maker, with brands like Actimel and Activia, said yesterday it expected like-for-like sales to rise five [...]
UK car factories rev back into life February 14, 2012 JAGUAR Land Rover underlined the rebound in the British car industry yesterday when it posted a record quarterly profit. Just three years after it turned to the European Investment Bank for a £340m crisis loan, JLR reported a 57 per cent rise in net profit to £440m for the final three months of 2011. Demand [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES PRESSURE RISES ON PRIVATE EQUITY BOSSES’ TAX Pressure is rising across the globe to raise taxes for private equity bosses, with German and Swedish authorities pushing for legislative changes and a leading US pension fund investor calling the 15 per cent rate in America “indefensible”. HSBC SETS TARGET OF 800 BRANCHES IN CHINA [...]