THE DAILY BRIEFING
BETS OFF Profits at spread better CMC Markets dropped 9pc to £48.5m in the year to March 31 after a crackdown by the City watchdog and relative calm on the markets.
However, the business said that it would keep its total annual dividend at 8.9p per share. PENSION HOLE Roadside recovery group the AA has agreed a nineyear plan to plug the £366m funding gap in its company pension scheme.
In addition, the firm – which also provides car insurance and driving lessons – has agreed changes to its defined benefit pension scheme ‘to stabilise service charges and enhance the company’s competitiveness’.
FAST FUNDS Online fashion retailer Boohoo has raised £50m to fund its new £150m warehouse – less than 24 hours after announcing the placing. It placed 22.7m new shares after markets closed yesterday at 220p per share, just below the closing price of 220.8p.
Co-founder Mahmud Kamani and his siblings Rabia Kamani and Nurez Kamani also cashed out £80.5m after selling 36.6m of their shares. NEW FACES Outsourcing firm Mears has appointed two new members to its board.
The firm, which provides housing and care services, said Jason Burt, a former senior partner at Plexus Law, and Rory Irwin, the former chief inspector of housing for the Audit Commission, will serve as non-executive directors. PAY DEAL Marketing group Porta Communications has agreed a fiveyear £3.3m revolving credit facility to enable it to hire more senior staff. TOP TABLE Secure payments firm Eckoh has chosen Christopher Humphrey as its chairman. The 60year-old is currently a non-executive director at Aveva Group, and was formerly chief executive of Anite. ITALIAN JOB Oil and gas company Rockhopper Exploration is paying Northern Petroleum £1.2m to take gas assets in Italy off its hands. Northern Petroleum will take on the decommissioning costs involved, which Rockhopper believes could top £6m. SHIP SWAP The ban on Qatari vessels entering ports in the United Arab Emirates has seen Shell send a cargo of liquefied natural gas from the US to Dubai instead. GOING UP Credit rating agency Moody’s has upgraded BP to A1, saying it had performed well despite oil price volatility. The change was helped by the greater certainty around BP’s finances following settlements over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. HOMES WORK Estate agents network GPEA has merged with easy Property in a £60m deal.
NET GAIN Shareholders in Yahoo have approved the £3.5bn sale of its web business to Verizon, clearing the last major hurdle for the deal. JOB CUTS Beleaguered bank Credit Suisse is set to slash 1,500 jobs in London by the end of next year, which will take its City workforce to about 5,000.