Serco bags 3 leading lights as non-execs March 3, 2014 After announcing at the end of last week that it’s appointed a new chief executive – in the form of current Aggreko chief Rupert Soames – government contractor Serco has said this morning that its drafted in three impressive new non-executives. Rachel Lomax, former deputy Bank of England governor, Mike Clasper, ex-BAA chief and chairman [...]
Poundland and Pets at Home flotation offer prices unveiled February 28, 2014 Following a string of flotation announcements, IPO details are starting to come in from some companies. High street discount store Poundland has decided on a share offer price range of 250-300 pence, reports Reuters. The amount gives the company an implied market value of £625-750m when it lists on the stock exchange. Poundland is 76 [...]
Serco shares rocket on appointment of Aggreko chief February 28, 2014 Scandal-hit Serco has announced this morning that it’s appointed Rupert Soames, current chief executive (CEO) of Aggreko, as its new CEO. Shares have jumped over 10 per cent on the news. Source: Google Chris Hyman, the company’s last boss, left in October, following the string of fiascos concerning the electronic tagging of prisoners. Last [...]
Old Mutual shares jump on IPO confirmation and Intrinsic acquisition February 28, 2014 Old Mutual has posted promising 2013 results this morning, announcing it’s bought adviser firm Intrinsic for an undisclosed amount. The international group also confirmed it’s taking its US Asset Management business to market, with a minority initial public offering this year. Last year, it saw reported profit before tax of £1.5bn – a 9.5 per [...]
Pearson warns of falling earnings in 2014 after US education slowdown February 28, 2014 Publishing company Pearson has reported a fall in profit before tax of two per cent to £382m in its preliminary results for 2013. Adjusted earnings per share also fell by 15 per cent from 82.6p to 70.1p. However, sales at CER climbed two per cent to £5.2bn, while the company experienced growth in emerging markets. [...]
Rise in online gaming fails to stem William Hill profit loss February 28, 2014 Shares in FTSE 100 company William Hill are up a healthy 2.6 per cent following final results for 2013 showing a rise in online net revenue of 10 per cent and an explosion in mobile gaming net revenue of 166 per cent. However, the bookmaker suffered a seven per cent fall in profit before tax [...]
Rightmove traffic booms in wake of rising house prices February 28, 2014 Property website Rightmove has reported a rise in profit before tax of £14m to £97m for the year ended 31 December 2013. Revenue jumped by 17 per cent to £140m while the website's traffic rocketed 27 per cent to 14bn page impressions. Chief executive officer of Rightmove Nick McKittrick, commented: I'm delighted that Rightmove's popularity [...]
£3bn wiped off RBS as it reveals turnaround plans February 27, 2014 RBS SHARES dived as the bank yesterday revealed an £8.2bn loss for 2013, and warned it will be years before there is even a chance of turning a profit on the taxpayer’s stake. The latest losses mean the bank has now lost £45bn in the six years since the financial crisis struck, amounting almost exactly to [...]
WPP falls short on margins but wins big clients February 27, 2014 NEW ADVERTISING clients have helped WPP deliver an industry-beating 18.7 per cent rise in profits for last year, though investors were disappointed yesterday by the FTSE 100 firm’s margin forecast. Sir Martin Sorrell’s media outfit said it expects margins to increase 0.3 percentage points this year, trimmed from an earlier prediction of 0.5 points. Operating [...]
Merlin conjures up more visitors after UK listing February 27, 2014 NEARLY 60m people visited attractions operated by Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments last year, boosting revenues by almost 11 per cent. The visitor numbers, equivalent to the entire population of the UK, was up 10.7 per cent on 2012, with increasing numbers visiting Merlin attractions like Madame Tussauds, the Sea Life centre, Warwick Castle, Thorpe [...]