Petrofac sees big growth in Middle East March 7, 2011 OIL services firm Petrofac said yesterday it was confident about profit growth of at least 15 per cent this year, after posting a 58 per cent jump in profits in 2010. Petrofac posted a pre-tax profit of $663.5m (£409.7m) for the year, up from $432m in 2009 on revenues up 18.8 per cent to $4.35bn. [...]
Nord Gold unlikely to retry London float this year as Severstal looks for growth March 3, 2011 RUSSIAN mining and steel group Severstal is unlikely to bring its Nord Gold arm back to the market for another IPO attempt this year, the firm’s chief financial officer told City A.M. yesterday. “Definitely we believe we will come back to the market when we are ready,” said Alexey Kulichenko. “We really need to focus [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS March 2, 2011 Kinsey Allen International Sebastian Piggott has joined Kinsey Allen International (KAI), the global executive search firm, as a consultant. Piggott joins Kinsey Allen International’s fixed income practice to focus on senior sales and trading hires across credit, rates and foreign exchange. Piggott started his career in 1990 at Yamaichi International, and subsequently worked for Natwest [...]
The boss of the world’s largest law firm has more targets in his sights February 27, 2011 Britain’s most ambitious legal empire-builder bounces into one of his firm’s 11th floor meeting rooms in its modern London headquarters near St Paul’s – Sir Nigel Knowles, who has built DLA Piper from humble beginnings into a global powerhouse, is in the middle of completing another merger. Luckily for us, he is keen to talk. [...]
COMPANIES KEEN TO HIT THE ROAD FOR EVENTS February 27, 2011 WITH the Bribery Act and its new rules on corporate hospitality fast approaching, firms could be forgiven for dialling back the perks and avoiding client entertainment for the time being. But according to research by Keith Prowse, the big events on the UK calendar are still pulling in the punters – with next month’s 100th [...]
A twenty-first century wine firm, bringing Burgundy’s reds to China February 27, 2011 What is it like to work for a firm with two and a half centuries of tradition at your back? Hew Blair says it “drives you forward,” and his young broking manager Tom Jenkins agrees. The wine merchant Justerini and Brooks, the first wine firm to receive the royal warrant, has provided wines for every [...]
BAT triggers buyback but shares drop February 24, 2011 BRITISH American Tobacco’s (BAT) resumption of its share buyback programme and an upbeat 2011 outlook yesterday failed to offset concerns about declining cigarette volumes. Shares in the London-based maker of Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, fell 1.5 per cent despite the £750m share buyback plan and BAT saying the worst of the [...]
Elisabeth Murdoch sells TV production firm to her father February 21, 2011 THE DAUGHTER of media mogul Rupert Murdoch has agreed to sell the television production company she founded to her father for £415m. Elisabeth Murdoch will sell Shine Group, which makes programmes such as MasterChef and the Wright Stuff, to News Corp. She stands to pocket £200m from the deal, as well as gain a place [...]
Legal eagle: how London’s top law firm retained its grip on the City February 20, 2011 The head of law firm Slaughter and May is two minutes late for his interview with City A.M., for which he immediately apologies. The first thing is surprising; the second is not. The partners in this blueblooded City institution have spent a lifetime doing things correctly. Even among other Magic Circle outfits, this firm manages [...]
Merc sales driving Daimler February 16, 2011 GERMAN carmaker Daimler yesterday posted disappointing fourth-quarter earnings, with an upbeat outlook failing to deliver the detail that analysts said was needed to reassure investors. “On balance, a weak fourth quarter 2010 and no specific 2011 outlook”, wrote JP Morgan analyst Ranjit Unnithan in a research note. Daimler, which ditched its dividend last year, predicted [...]