Admiral ups profits 25pc March 2, 2011 PROFITS at motor and home insurer Admiral jumped almost a quarter in 2010 but investors shied away yesterday over fears its growth may not be sustainable. UK growth drove Admiral’s pre-tax profit up to £266m from £216m in 2009 in a seventh straight year of growth, while turnover rose 47 per cent to £1.58bn from [...]
GROWING CONFIDENCE IN UK ECONOMY January 13, 2011 The Investec entrepreneur confidence index that tracks the confidence levels of entrepreneurs in the UK economy has seen a small rise of 2 per cent since June. Some 56 per cent of the entrepreneurs interviewed believe that the economy will improve over the next 12 months. Ed Cottrell of Investec said: “The overall findings from [...]
Inchcape in profit rise as its sales rally March 8, 2011 GLOBAL car dealership Inchcape saw its profit jump by 38 per cent last year as emerging markets performed strongly. Profit before tax and one-off items was £214m, also helped by cost savings across the business. However, Inchcape warned that it expected pressure on gross profit margins this year due to the appreciation of the yen [...]
Inchcape in profit rise as its sales rally March 8, 2011 GLOBAL car dealership Inchcape saw its profit jump by 38 per cent last year as emerging markets performed strongly. Profit before tax and one-off items was £214m, also helped by cost savings across the business. However, Inchcape warned that it expected pressure on gross profit margins this year due to the appreciation of the yen [...]
Weir profit soars on international growth March 8, 2011 ENGINEERING group Weir said yesterday it was confident on growth as it expects mining and oil and gas customers to continue to spend on valves and pumps, putting it ahead of schedule with a plan to double 2009 profits by 2014. Weir said growing demand for commodities in China was fuelling large mining projects and [...]
Kotak India pulls £100m City share placing February 16, 2011 KOTAK Mahindra, an Indian financial services group, was yesterday forced to abandon a £100m London share placing and offer after failing to satisfy the rules over having a sufficiently free float. Kotak adviser Investec said there was demand for around £40m worth of shares in Kotak’s Infrastructure Fund – below the maximum amount but above [...]
UK Mail blames poor weather conditions for profit warning January 12, 2011 SHARES in UK Mail dropped more than nine per cent yesterday after the delivery firm warned on its full-year profits, prompting Investec to cut its earnings and dividend forecasts and its target price to 400p from 420p. “Whilst we were able to manage our operations such that over 99 per cent of our Christmas parcel [...]
GKN profits jump on car sales growth March 1, 2011 ENGINEERING group GKN quadrupled its profit to £363m last year, the firm said yesterday, on the back of strong sales of car and plane parts. The FTSE 100-listed firm, which makes engines and frames for Airbus and Boeing, said total sales rose 20 per cent to £5.08bn. “The aerospace market has remained subdued although civil [...]
Property experts say stamp duty hike will not hinder sales January 20, 2011 HIGH-END property buyers will not be put off by the looming rise in stamp duty, according to research seen by City A.M. Though the OECD warned yesterday that the tax places unfair barriers on the housing market for some, 52 per cent of property professionals surveyed by Investec thought the 25 per cent duty hike [...]
ECB’s Trichet hints at April rate rise March 3, 2011 The European Central Bank may hike interest rates next month, far earlier than markets expected, President Jean-Claude Trichet has said. Trichet dismissed the idea that a rate rise in April could be bigger than 25 basis points, saying that such a scenario was “not the appropriate interpretation”. “The position of the Governing Council is that [...]