Today's market overview
• Bookmaker
William Hill
had a strong first quarter, driven by growth in online betting, with a gross win margin above the expected range.
• Orders are flowing in at valve engineering group
Rotork
, which has had a record quarter for order intake, as the group continued the strong performance seen at the end of 2011.
•
International Airlines Group
has officially completed the purchase of bmi airlines from Lufthansa. The airline will be integrated into British Airways, with details on how this will be achieved to be announced at the time of IAG's first quarter results announcement, scheduled for May.
• Sweeteners giant
Tate & Lyle
has reached agreement to sell its half-share in Sucromiles, its Colombian citric acid joint venture, to its long-standing partner in this business, Organización Ardila Lülle.
• Trendy clothing group
Supergroup
has been growing so fast it has not been able to accurately predict the amount of money it expects to make, resulting in the group issuing a severe profits warning (IC COMMENT).
• Engineering group
IMI
has made a strong start to 2012 with growth in its Severe Service and Merchandising divisions offsetting a more subdued performance in its other units.
• Industrial property owner
SEGRO
is planning to sell IQ Farnborough, a mixed-use business park and the first of its six large non-strategic assets to have been sold since being highlighted as non-core at the end of last year.
•
Spirent Communications
has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Mu Dynamics, a security testing firm based in California.
• Switzerland-headquartered iron ore company
Ferrexpo
saw first-quarter production rise in the first quarter of 2012, compared with the same period the year before, but cash costs increased significantly.
• Instrumentation and controls group
Spectris
said that after a storming 2011, sales growth rates have, as expected, moderated in 2012.
• The Spanish airline, Iberia, cancelled 122 scheduled flights on Friday as industrial action by its pilots entered its 16th day.
•
Pan Pacific Aggregates
, the British Columbia-based aggregates company, has completed the remortgaging of its Quadling Quarry in the Fraser Valley Regional District, replacing its existing loan that was due to expire on June 30th.
•
Urals Energy
, an independent oil exploration and production company with operations in Russia, has restarted drilling on well 41 at Petrosakh.
•
GlaxoSmithKline
's shareholders are set for another return of capital this year following the divestment of more non-core over-the-counter brands in its international markets to Aspen Pharmacare Holdings.
• Satellite communications group
Inmarsat
has reached a settlement with its US partner, Lightsquared, over the money the US wireless network company owes the FTSE 250 firm.
•
City of London Investment Trust
has said that during the quarter ended March 31st its portfolio remained biased towards non-cyclical and global companies.
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