Grim reading at Johnston as profits fall August 25, 2011 NEWSPAPER publisher Johnston Press only needs to focus on repaying around a third of its £370m debt pile, according to outgoing chief executive John Fry. The group, which announced a slump in first-half pre-tax profits, said it would continue to cut costs by simplifying processes and consolidating back-office functions as the economic outlook remained grim [...]
Amec enjoys boost despite North Sea tax August 25, 2011 AMEC, the engineering and support services group, said a surge of activity in the North Sea oil fields and growth in the mining and renewables sectors helped it post higher first-half core earnings and bolstered its order book. Samir Brikho, Amec’s chief executive said the UK government’s North Sea tax raid announced in the March [...]
BOOM-TIME FOR BRITISH FILM INDUSTRY August 24, 2011 MARGARET Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, starring Meryl Streep (pictured) as the lead, helped push film studios owner Pinewood Shepperton to a 68 per cent rise in film revenue. The firm, in which Peel Holdings acquired a majority stake earlier this year, has seen such a surge in demand for movie studio space it has [...]
Admiral hit by growth fears despite gains August 24, 2011 CAR insurance group Admiral shrugged off fears over the UK economy to post further double-digit profit and turnover gains in the first half of the year, but saw its share price slide due to fears over its business model. Admiral, which owns the price comparison site confused.com, said its pre-tax profit jumped 27 per cent, [...]
Derwent boss bullish about London rents August 24, 2011 SPENDING cuts are not hitting the capital’s commercial rental market, according to the chief executive of developer Derwent London. John Burns also said that global economic uncertainty had failed to hurt deals for offices in the firm’s West End heartland. He was speaking as Derwent reported a strong first-half rise in asset values and a [...]
Government outsourcing gives boost to Carillion August 24, 2011 SUPPORT services and construction group Carillion posted a 10 per cent rise in first-half profit yesterday, driven by a surge in demand for public sector outsourcing as cash-strapped local authorities looked to cut costs. The group, which maintains motorways, railways, military bases and telephone lines, said pre-tax profit increased to £72.5m on revenues two per [...]
Accord is upbeat on bookings August 24, 2011 ACCOR, Europe’s largest hotel group, said it remained “watchful” but reassured investors it had not seen any impact of global recession fears on September bookings, lifting its shares as much as four per cent. Accor, the world’s fourth-largest hotel group, also posted a 27.5 per cent rise in first-half earnings before interest and taxes to [...]
US markets make strong comeback August 24, 2011 US stocks posted strong gains for a second day yesterday as investors jumped back into beaten-down financial shares and backed away from safer assets like gold in volatile trading. The stock market swung back and forth as investors anticipated a key speech from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday. There had been hope the [...]
RESTAURATEURS FLOCK TO RENT 1 BISHOPSGATE IN CITY’S DINING BOOM August 22, 2011 IT IS not big enough for the new headquarters of the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, which requires a capacious 100,000 square feet. But the four vacant office units at 1 Bishopsgate have attracted a “healthy level of interest” from insurance, finance, shipping, software and law firms – even a handful of hedge funds [...]
£50m bill for ITV as staff live longer August 22, 2011 ITV has moved to offload the risk associated with its huge pension fund deficit in a £1.7bn deal with Credit Suisse. The complex transaction will add £50m to ITV’s pension-deficit, last valued at £312m. It has been designed so ITV can protect itself against current and former workers living longer than expected. The broadcaster has [...]