Kazakhmys gets blocking stake in ENRC August 12, 2008 Kazakhmys, the Kazakh copper producer, has upped its stake in Kazakh rival Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) to 25.02 per cent, effectively preventing its biggest rival from making a hostile bid for it. The purchase of 35.7m shares, at an average of 1,126p each for a total £402m, will give Kazakhmys the power to veto [...]
Struggling retailers can’t just blame the downturn August 11, 2008 The threat of recession is an excellent excuse for retailers to blame someone else for their poor performance. Things are certainly getting tougher out there, but retailers whose sales are falling faster than average are losing market share. Simple as that. Monthly retail sales are wildly volatile, but look at it this way – in [...]
UPS plans to deliver £8bn bid for TNT August 11, 2008 American delivery service United Parcel Service (UPS) is understood to be preparing a €10bn (£7.8bn) bid for Dutch rival TNT, in a long-heralded move that would create a new global delivery giant. Early-stage talks about a deal are thought to have been ongoing in the last few days, after years of speculation about a takeover [...]
Water bills face rise August 11, 2008 Britain’s water companies are planning to increase household water bills to fund their investment plans for the 2010-2015 period, piling further pressure on hard-pressed consumers already coping with rising living costs. Southern Water, Thames Water and United Utilities, which submitted their five-year investment programmes to industry regulator Ofwat yesterday, revealed the highest increases above inflation. [...]
Collins Stewart profits slump as bidders circle August 11, 2008 Profits at Collins Stewart, the broker, are expected to have more than halved, according to analysts awaiting the group’s interim results tomorrow. Collins Stewart, which is in takeover discussions, could report profits as low as £25m, from £52m in the first half of 2007. The credit crunch has hit small cap brokers hard, with many [...]
Outage sparks International Power investors to sell stock August 8, 2008 Shares in International Power slid yesterday after the power generator said a nine-week outage at one of its plants would hit profits by £45m. The firm, led by chief executive Philip Cox, said longer-than-expected maintenance work at its coal power station Rugeley in Staffordshire would hit its second-half results. Cox said: “One unit suffered a [...]
Volatile markets give London Capital Group a boost as interim profits soar August 8, 2008 Volatile market conditions helped profits more than double at spread betting firm London Capital Group over the past six months, its interim results revealed yesterday. Profits before tax rose 52 per cent to £5.43m in the six months to the end of June as sharp falls in share prices tempted more people to try spread [...]
Results beat expectations at MF Global August 8, 2008 Shares in MF Global, the global futures and options broker, gained as much as 12 per cent on Wall Street after its first-quarter results came in better than-expected, despite profits plummeting 80 per cent on last year. For the three months ending 30 June, the company posted profits of $14.4m (£7.2m), compared to $72.9m a [...]
Axa avoids worst of the fallout August 8, 2008 Axa, Europe’s second-biggest insurer, reported lower first-half net profit yesterday although its earnings still managed to beat analyst expectations. Net profit fell 32 per cent to €2.16bn (£1.7bn) partly due to write downs on fixed income assets. The French insurer revealed a €237m impact on asset backed securities and a €502m hit on fixed income [...]
Profit fall at Friends August 8, 2008 Shares in Friends Provident tumbled almost five per cent yesterday as the troubled life assurer disappointed investors by posting a 20 per cent fall in profit while failing to complete the sale of its non-core units. Friends Provident, which has been overhauling its business since the start of the year, said it had not yet [...]