Outsourcer Capita upbeat as profits rise July 25, 2012 British outsourcing group Capita posted a 10 per cent rise in first half profit, boosted by another acquisition spree, and said a buoyant sales market gave it confidence for a strong 2012 and beyond. Capita, which manages over 21 million life and pension policies and provides radios for UK emergency services, on Wednesday said underlying [...]
Tullow Oil galvanised by Uganda farm-down July 25, 2012 Africa-focused Tullow Oil is setting its sights on boosting production at its Jubilee field in Ghana and success from a busy drilling programme, putting to use $2.9bn (£1.8bn) of funds from partners which bought into its Uganda project. Reporting a 48 per cent increase in first-half pretax profit to $829m and an unchanged dividend of [...]
London Metal Exchange shareholders vote on takeover July 25, 2012 London Metal Exchange (LME) shareholders decide on Wednesday whether to accept a £1.4bn offer by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) for the 135-year-old institution. A survey published on Monday with responses from 38 of the banks, funds and industrial users entitled to vote – more than half of the total – showed that most [...]
Hong Kong’s Li Ka-shing to buy £645m UK gas assets July 25, 2012 A group of companies controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing has agreed to buy UK gas company Wales and West Utilities for £645m, the latest acquisition by the tycoon that will boost his gas portfolio in Britain. Octogenarian Li has been expanding his business empire by buying into regulated infrastructure and utilities assets in [...]
EasyJet sales rise due to UK’s poor weather July 25, 2012 British budget airline easyJet posted a 10.5 per cent rise in third-quarter revenues, boosted by strong demand for beach holidays due to the poor weather in northern Europe. Europe’s second-largest low-cost carrier on Wednesday said revenues rose to £1.03bn in the three months to the end of June, and issued full-year profit guidance ahead of [...]
BT cuts costs to offset revenue slide July 25, 2012 BT had to rely on deep cost cuts in the first quarter to lift core earnings 2 per cent after tough conditions in southern Europe and the financial sector hit overall revenues. Britain’s biggest fixed-line telecoms firm reported first quarter revenues down 6 per cent to £4.48bnand an outflow of normalised free cash flow of [...]
UK sinks deeper into recession than expected July 25, 2012 Britain’s economy shrank far more than expected in the second quarter of 2012, battered by everything from an extra day’s holiday to budget austerity and the neighbouring Eurozone crisis. Chancellor George Osborne said the country had “deep-rooted economic problems”. The Office for National Statistics said Britain’s gross domestic product fell 0.7 per cent in the [...]
FTSE 100 falters as markets wait-and-see July 24, 2012 Britain’s top shares index was a touch lower on Tuesday after sharp falls in the previous session with volumes low. At midday British time, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent at 5,526.80 points, having slumped 2.1 per cent on Monday. Investors have been concerned about the ongoing Eurozone crisis, which is now clearly [...]
Barclays picks lawyer to head review July 24, 2012 Barclays has picked veteran lawyer Anthony Salz to lead a review of its culture and practices following the Libor scandal that rocked the bank, forcing its chairman and chief executive to quit. The review could include a change to the bank’s bonus structure and is expected to complete before May 2013. The scandal has shown [...]
Anglo in Mozambican metallurgical buy July 24, 2012 Anglo American is to buy a majority stake in the Revuboe metallurgical coal project in Mozambique for A$540m (£357m) from Australia’s Talbot Group, boosting its presence in a key region for the steelmaking commodity. Anglo said on Tuesday it would buy a 58.9 per cent stake from the group founded by the late mining tycoon [...]
