News

Meyer International has continued its expansion in Florida, US with the acquisition of laminates distributor Macleod Corp for $7 million. Macleod's three branches in Ordlando, Tampa and Fort Myers widen Meyer's geographical spread in the state's laminates market, which it first entered in 1988 with the acquisition of Palm Beach-based…

The City responded cautiously last week to Alfred McAlpine's 15 per cent rise in pre-tax profits for the year to October from £20.46 million to £23.63 million. Many analysts revised their forecasts for the current year upwards, but only slightly.A typical reaction was that of Swiss Bank Equities, which is…

Building products to specialist contracting group Eleco is selling off two sites from its property portfolio and making its first big move into Europe with the setting up of a manufacturing plant in Belgium. The move reflects the trading performance of its various divisions in the six months to end-December,…

Stanley Miller was forced to act swiftly last week to halt a crisis in its share price, which plummeted at one stage to a 12-month low of 45p against last spring's peak of 349p and against 102p at the start of the week. The shares rallied to 77p after the…

Speculation that Essex-based timber processing group Phoenix Timber is about to fall prey to a bid increased last week when Swedish investment company Mercurius Gruppen increased its stake from 12.6 to 19.9 per cent.This was the third time Mercurius had increased its shareholding since first disclosing in October that it…

Fears that 1990 will be for house builders in the North what 1989 was for their hard-pressed counterparts in the South may have been overdone - this week Persimmon unveiled a 10 per cent pre-tax profit rise to £32.55 million last year (£29.54 million). But at least one analyst thought…

Tight margins lie behind US giant Brown and Root's decision to sell a 'major portion' of its offshore construction assets, mainly pipelaying and other vessels based in the US, Middle East and Far East.The company stressed that its stake in Scottish fabrication yard Highlands Fabricators, which it co-owns with Wimpey,…

Lilley chief executive Bob Rankin gave fresh hope to strategic holders of Tilbury stock this week when he stressed that his 29.9 per cent stake in the company was 'not in conflict' with his latest acquisition, Hatfield Estates. His remarks were interpreted by some as an indication that he plans…

Trafalgar House has come a step nearer to featuring for a second time in a Parliamentary inquiry into a deal involving the sale of state-owned assets to the private sector. Labour MP Gwyneth Dunwoody has asked the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the sale last year of British Rail engineering…

The fate of movie giant MCA's bid to create a £600 million film studio and theme park complex on 400 ha of Rainham marshes in Essex appears to lie with Environment Secretary Chris Patten. Supported by Havering Borough Council at a meeting on February 27, the scheme, which was opposed…