Date: Tuesday 08 Jun 2010
Tesco is the big story. Chie Sir Terry Leahy is to retire next March with Philip Clarke moving up to take his place as CEO at the UK's top supermarket chain.
Leahy steps down after 14 years in the top job, a period that has seen Tesco become the dominant force in UK grocery retailing and start to make significant inroads into overseas markets in Asia and more recently the US. Clarke is a lifelong Tesco man.
Demand at the World Cup and a pick-up in business elsewhere means temporary power and temperature control services firm Aggreko expects performance this year will be significantly better than previously anticipated. At the interim stage group revenue in constant currency and excluding pass-through fuel will grow by around 10%, and trading profit by about 20%, the company said.
Miners have also picked up after a few iffy days recently. Fresnillo, ENRC and Xstrataare the best performers.
Catering firm Compass Group has snapped up a North American provider of soft support services operating in the education and business and industry sectors. The company is paying $65m (£45m) in cash for Southeast Service Corporation (SSC), a company which last year had revenue of $153m (£106m).
Newsagent chain WH Smith announced the retirement of chairman Robert Walker as it revealed a 4% fall in like-for-like sales in the 14 weeks to June 5. Like-for-like sales were down by 4% in both the High Street and Travel divisions, with like-for-like sales at travel outlets down by 2% excluding the impact of the volcanic ash cloud that grounded flights across Britain.
Falkland Basin oil explorer Rockhopper has wasted little time in tapping shareholders after its recent discoveries in the South Atlantic. The firm is to raise £48.5m through a placing of 17.3m new shares at 280p apiece, a small discount to last night's close of 290p.
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