News

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

BEER MONEY

August 12, 2009

SAB MILLER’S chief executive Graham Mackay yesterday said he was prepared to “make the right acquisition” and predicted the beer industry will recover from the downturn at a sluggish pace. Mackay said there was “money available” but refused to be drawn on how much the brewer would be willing to spend.
Continental boss gets the chop

August 12, 2009

Germany’s Schaeffler Group finally claimed the scalp of car parts manufacturer Continental’s chief executive Karl-Thomas Neumann yesterday by breaking down union opposition to his ousting with a last-minute compromise offer. The ball bearings manufacturer that controls 90 per cent of Continental installed the head of its own automotive components business, Elmar Degenhart, as the new [...]
SOCO profits boost exploration

August 12, 2009

Oil and gas explorer SOCO International said yesterday it will launch a major exploration programme in West Africa over the next 18 months after swinging to a first-half pre-tax profit of $31.6m (£19.1m). Chief executive Ed Story said he hoped to find 500m barrels of oil in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Congo [...]
Aquarius loses as demand drops

August 12, 2009

Aquarius Platinum, the world’s fourth-biggest producer of platinum, said yesterday it had swung to a full-year net loss of $45.7m (£27.6m) on weaker metal prices and reduced output. Aquarius said production fell to 455,675 ounces from 500,203 ounces in its last financial year, hit by the suspension of operations at its South African Everest mine [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS

August 12, 2009

MICHAEL PAGEAhead of the firm’s first half results on Monday, Panmure Gordon rates Michael Page a “sell” with a 94p target price. The broker said the current outlook cannot be anything but cautious, making valuation difficult. Rival Adecco’s acquisition of Spring Group makes the chances of it buying Page slim, said Panmure. COOKSONUBS introduced a [...]
ING back to profit but banking suffers

August 12, 2009

DUTCH banking group ING returned to the black yesterday, posting second-quarter pre-tax profit of €74m (£63.5m), but saw its banking operations fall to a surprise loss. The financial services group turned around its dismal performance during the credit crunch, which saw it post a €4.3bn loss in the final quarter of 2008, followed by a [...]
Fury over McDonalds’ 2012 exclusivity

August 12, 2009

THE organisers of the 2012 London Olympics came under fire yesterday as it emerged that McDonald’s will be the only food brand seen at the event. Other vendors will be present at the Olympic venues but, as official sponsor, the golden arches will be the only brand seen by hungry visitors. The agreement seemingly undermines [...]
CITY VIEWS: IS IT RIGHT THAT MCDONALD’S WILL BE THE ONLY FOOD SPONSOR AT THE OLYMPICS ?

August 12, 2009

GEORGE WILLIAMSON WELBECK GROUP“Absolutely ridiculous. The whole ethos for the Olympics is a sporting and healthy environment. To restrict all branding of food to McDonald’s is too much. This is our Olympics and we should want to give it a British feel, not one of a world wide franchise.”NICHOLAS YIALONITES NEW YORK EXCHANGE“It’s not good [...]
Sky Digital Media terminates sales contracts with 23 sports websites

August 12, 2009

BSkyB’s digital sales house said yesterday that it will stop selling ads for 23 third-party sports sites as it moves to focus its resources on increasing revenues. The sites due to be terminated comprise mainly of small rugby, gymnastics and niche fan sites, and make up just 1.8 per cent of Sky Digital Media’s (SDM) [...]
TUI warns of poor winter sun demand

August 12, 2009

DEMAND for summer holidays is holding up in the recession, Thomson owner TUI Travel said yesterday, but it warned the winter season could be bleak. TUI said that a surge of late-bookings, prompted by dismal British weather, has left the group with fewer summer holidays left to sell than last year. Late summer bookings contributed [...]