Jobs at risk after US takeover bid
5 things we learned yesterday
1 Hundreds of jobs in the North East are facing a twin threat after a US paint giant made a second takeover bid for the Dutch firm AkzoNobel.
The Dutch manufacturing giant – which employs more than 1,000 people at Gateshead and Ashington – has rejected a new proposal worth €88.72 (£76.75) per share from US rival PPG Industries.
It said PPG’s offer failed to “reflect the current and future value” of the firm and did not “address significant uncertainties and risks” for shareholders and stakeholders. But with PPG – which has a plant at Shildon, in County Durham – saying its takeover could result in annual savings of at least $750m, AkzoNobel’s chief executive Ton Buchner yesterday warned that the deal would result in “significant job cuts”. 2 Staff at the shoe retailer Brantano are facing the prospect of redundancies for the second time in a just over year after the chain went into administration.
The company, which has outlets at Kingston Park, North Shields, Blyth, Hexham and Consett, has called in administrators after suffering what it called “difficult trading conditions”.
Brantano’s stores will trade as normal as administrators from the accountancy firm PwC assess whether all or part of the business can be saved. 3 Mill Garages boosted its turnover and profit levels last year despite making major changes to two of its dealerships.
The Newcastle-headquartered business saw its turnover rise by £11m to £113.5m, while its profit before tax also increased from £1.04m to £1.075m.
The positive results were achieved at the same time as Mill Garages carried out a major refurbishment of its Stockton dealership. The refurbishment took five months to complete and “impacted the operational performance of the site” as well as incurring “additional costs”, the firm said. Also undergoing a major change was Mill Garages’s Harrogate dealership, which ended its relationship with Nissan after ceasing its franchise with the car manufacturer. The decision was made to focus on selling more Volvo vehicles. 4 B&Q owner Kingfisher hailed an “important year” as it revealed a 14.7% hike in annual profits thanks to an overhaul of its DIY chain and surging sales at Screwfix.
The group posted underlying pre-tax profits of £787m for the year to January 31, up from £686m a year earlier, after seeing B&Q likefor-like sales lift by 3.5%.
But its trade-focused arm Screwfix was once again the star performer, with same-store sales leaping 13.8% higher. 5 More than 150,000 cars were built in the UK last month, the biggest February figure for 17 years, new data has revealed.
Demand from overseas drove output, offsetting a 7.4% fall in production for the home market, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. A car came off the production line every 16 seconds last month, taking total output to 153,041.
Exports increased by 13% compared with the same month last year.