AbbVie reconsiders Shire deal after US Treasury proposes tax inversion rule changes October 15, 2014 AbbVie is reconsidering its takeover of UK drugmaker Shire – and it could come at a hefty price. The US pharmaceutical firm is reconsidering the $54bn (£32bn) deal in light of the US government’s proposals to change rules aimed at ending tax inversion deals – the popular practice of US firms relocating their headquarters to countries with [...]
Balfour Beatty names Leo Quinn as new chief exec October 14, 2014 Balfour Beatty’s share price soared this morning after revealing it had snagged Leo Quinn, chief executive of QinetiQ, to lead it out of troubled waters after a turbulent year and a series of profit warnings. Quinn, who has headed up defence technology company QinetiQ since 2009, takes over from Andrew McNaughton who stepped down after [...]
Investec banker brushes off “complete criminals” insult from PR guru Lord Bell October 14, 2014 A Senior Investec banker last night shrugged off insults made last week by PR guru Lord Bell. Bell, who counts Investec among his firm Bell Pottinger’s clients, claimed bankers were “complete criminals”. But Investec’s head of investment banking Andrew Pinder is happy to move on, simply referring to the comments as “an interesting view”. “He [...]
Royal Mail sells Paddington site for £111m October 14, 2014 ROYAL MAIL, led by Moya Greene (pictured above), has sold its mail centre at Paddington to Singaporean property firm Great Western Developments for £111m. The first site to be sold off since the group floated, it will be remodelled into luxury homes, hopefully larger than stamps.
Burberry sales jump despite tough market October 14, 2014 BURBERRY warned yesterday that conditions in some of its markets, including China, were getting tougher, despite a 14 per cent increase in first-half sales, sending shares down almost four per cent. The luxury group said total revenues reached £1.1bn in the six months to 30 September, thanks to strong performance across all regions. However, it [...]
Afren share price rises after firing CEO Osman Shahenshah and COO Shahid Ullah October 14, 2014 Afren's share price climbed by over 3.5 per cent yesterday after the oil company announced that its chief executive and chief operating officer (COO) had been sacked for gross misconduct following an independent review. The company had suffered a 30 per cent share slump when it suspended CEO Osman Shahenshah and COO Shahid Ullah [...]
Bellway share price jumps as home sales and profits break records October 14, 2014 Bellway’s shares rallied 5.53 per cent yesterday after the housebuilder posted record half-year profits and said it expected to build 10 per cent more homes over the next year. The Newcastle-based company said pre-tax profits reached £245.9m in the six months to 31 July, up 74.5 per cent on the same time last year and [...]
Hargreaves Lansdown share price hit by market fears around Scottish independence and Russia-Ukraine conflict October 14, 2014 Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown was hit by turmoil in the geopolitical arena last quarter, as the fear stalking stock markets dragged down performance. The FTSE 100 giant, based in Bristol, said concerns over the Scottish referendum, conflict between Ukraine and Russia, unrest in the Middle East and poor data from the Eurozone had made customers [...]
Michael Page share price plummets as profit takes exchange rate hit October 14, 2014 Shares in recruitment firm Michael Page saw their price plunge by 7.6 per cent yesterday as its latest results showed the strength of sterling had hit profit significantly. The firm performed well volume-wise, with gross profits 11.6 per cent higher in the third quarter than a year earlier when ignoring changes in exchange rates. However, [...]
SABMiller’s Asia beer volumes get China chills October 14, 2014 PERONI and Carling brewer SABMiller saw poor summer weather in China hit its larger sales in the second quarter, while strong soft drink sales and higher prices helped to support revenue growth of five per cent during the second quarter to 30 September. SAB has been trying to offset sluggish growth in developed markets by [...]