News

Your daily news update straight from the City PM newsroom in London

Enoc will keep hold of Dragon Oil

December 2, 2009

Dubai-controlled refiner Emirates National Oil Company (Enoc) will retain control of explorer Dragon Oil, quashing speculation of a sale based on Dubai’s need for cash to meet its pressing debt obligations. Enoc said yesterday it remained committed to a 2 November bid for the remaining 48 per cent of the London-and-Dublin-listed firm for about $1.8 [...]
C&W reveals 60m AXA deal

December 2, 2009

Cable and Wireless Worldwide yesterday announced a six-year, £60m telephony transformation contract to take on the management of the entire AXA UK telephony estate. The estate, which spans 30 sites around the UK, encompasses 3,000 telephone agents and 12,000 users in total. Cable and Wireless said the deal would enable AXA to deliver an improved, [...]
Telford Homes increases profits

December 2, 2009

East London residential developer, Telford Homes, reported a leap in pre-tax profits to £6.5m from £0.3m a year ago while revenue jumped from £35.6m to £85.9m. The builder remains on course to match full-year forecasts as it legally completed 224 open market homes during the period, nearly double the 119 it reported during the previous [...]
Sceptre Leisure credit facility

December 2, 2009

Sceptre Leisure announced yesterday that it has agreed to a £6m revolving credit facility and £0.5m overdraft with Lloyds Banking Group to replace an existing £3m overdraft, which was due to expire on 31 December 2009. The group reduced its net debt from £19.3m to £16.7m in the six months to 31 October.
Redundancy costs and the effects of the crunch hit Brewin Dolphin profits

December 2, 2009

STOCKBROKER Brewin Dolphin announced lower annual profits due to redundancy costs and tough trading in investment banking and warned of more woe. Brewin reported pre-tax profit of £21.9m for the year to 27 September, down from £32m a year ago, after cutting an undisclosed number of jobs. The group said its investment banking division started [...]
Hexagon readjusts its forecasts downwards

December 2, 2009

HEXAGON Human Capital reported yesterday that it has been over-optimistic in its cash flow forecasts and that the group now expects its full-year earnings to be below market expectations. Hexagon, which saw a stabilisation in its trading in recent months, announced that it was in default on previously arranged payments with the tax authorities as [...]
Aer Lingus to cut more jobs

December 2, 2009

AER LINGUS’ new boss stamped his mark on the ailing airline yesterday, announcing another round of job cuts after talks with unions to reduce the airline’s wage bill collapsed. Ex-package holidays executive Christoph Mueller, who took up the post at Aer Lingus on 1 September, is trying to overhaul a carrier which has resisted two [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS

December 2, 2009

Deutsche BankDeutsche Bank’s private wealth management division said yesterday it had appointed Kwong Kin Mun as head of private banking for its South East Asian arm. He will take up the position from 21 December. Prior to this, Kin Mun had been the head of private banking for South Asia at DBS Private Bank in [...]
Informa drops Springer bid

December 2, 2009

MEDIA group Informa has abandoned a bid for Springer Science & Business Media, saying it was unable to do a deal in the time set by the debt-laden firm’s private equity owners. Informa was planning to buy Springer after its owners, Candover and Cinven, put it on the market earlier this year. Springer was valued [...]
Moller-Maersk agrees to sale of plastics division

December 2, 2009

DENMARK’S shipping group Moller-Maersk said yesterday it has agreed to sell its Rosti Technical Plastics (RTP) Holding unit to the privately-owned Swedish firm Nordstjernan for an undisclosed fee. RTP, which produces injection-moulded plastic products for various industries, had sales of €112m (£103m) in the last 12 months, Nordstjernan said in a statement yesterday. Nordstjernan said [...]