FTSE closes highest since June 2008 December 14, 2010 LONDON’S stock indices advanced again today after UK inflation figures and thin volumes failed to hold back its gains. The FTSE 100 index closed up 30.46 points or 0.5 per cent at 5,891.21, its best performance since June 2008, despite trading which analysts described as “lacklustre”. In contrast, the mid-market FTSE250 hit three year high, [...]
FTSE closes up but US uncertainty weighs on Wall Street December 9, 2010 LONDON’S FTSE 100 closed above 5,800 today for only the second time in almost a month, pushed up by financial services firms. Barclays, RBS and the Prudential were among the biggest gainers, while energy firm BG also rose more than three per cent and services firms Serco and BT also made the top ten. HSBC [...]
Longer deals for rail firms December 7, 2010 TRAIN companies are to get longer franchises in return for cutting costs under plans unveiled yesterday by the government. Ministers plan to offer 15-year-minimum contracts for rail franchises in 2012 and 2013, although some companies will receive short-term franchises in particular circumstances. Transport secretary Philip Hammond said an interim report from a government-sponsored rail industry review [...]
Capita says cuts will hit its revenues November 18, 2010 CAPITA yesterday said revenues would be hit harder by government spending cuts than it previously expected, casting a shadow over predictions that robust support services firms stand to gain from the era of austerity. Since the coalition was formed in May, many large support services firms such as Capita and rival Serco have sounded bullish [...]
Trident staff in pay revolt November 16, 2010 THE UNION representing engineers and scientists working on nuclear warheads for Britain’s Trident missiles said they are to take industrial action in protest over the latest pay offer from their employer, the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). Prospect union spokesman Graham Stewart said its 1,300 members, who represent the majority of specialist staff at AWE’s Aldermaston [...]
Serco on track to hit targets November 15, 2010 GOVERNMENT moves to cut costs by contracting out services have paid off for support service group Serco, putting it on course to hit targets and boosting its shares. The group’s stock rose 8.5p to 571.5p after it said it was on track to boost revenue to about £5bn by the end of 2012 and to [...]
Serco forecasts revenue jump November 15, 2010 Outsourcing firm Serco said it expected revenues to increase to about £5bn by the end of 2012, buoyed by strong demand from cost-cutting governments and local authorities. Serco, which runs London’s cycle hire scheme, several prisons in Britain and Dubai’s recently-opened metro, said it had signed £3.7bn worth of contracts over the course of the [...]
Drop in mining stocks takes a toll on the FTSE but Rolls-Royce begins to recover November 8, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares fell yesterday as mining and energy stocks tracked lower commodity prices, while financials eased on Basel III and sovereign debt concerns. Rolls-Royce rose 2.7 per cent after the engine manufacturer announced progress in understanding the cause of the failure of a Trent 900-powered A380 Qantas flight on 4 November, adding the incident [...]
Embarrassment grows further for Serco November 7, 2010 EMBARRASSMENT grew at government contractor Serco last night after it admitted two of its suppliers gave in to its bully-boy tactics. The firm received condemnation after a letter demanding a rebate from its suppliers was leaked to the press. It was shamed into issuing a grovelling apology and says the “relatively small” amount of money [...]
Royal Mail to cut supplier costs by 20pc November 7, 2010 ROYAL MAIL has told its suppliers to strike new deals as it looks to cut 20 per cent costs from each contract. The top 150 suppliers to the company were told in a meeting in London ten days ago the operator was looking to “radically reduce costs” ahead of plans to privatise the service, according [...]