The Business Matrix: Wednesday 31 August 2011

Paddy Power posts £50m profits

Paddy Power said a surge in online bets helped it post a rise in profits today as it weathered a run of punter-friendly sports results. The Irish bookmaker, which has 151 outlets in the UK, suffered a “right bashing” at the Cheltenham horse racing festival and a “bruising” Royal Ascot, but said underlying profits were 15 per cent higher at €57m (£50m).

Gray and Keys boost TalkSport

TalkSport expects revenues to jump by 14 per cent in the third quarter, boosted by its controversial hiring of Andy Gray and Richard Keys from Sky Sports, who have pulled in 100,000 new listeners a week. Its parent UTV struck a bullish note on the blokey radio station, as its half-yearly profits rose 15 per cent to £10.9m.

Consumer confidence dives

Consumer confidence in the UK has slipped to levels normally associated with a recession, raising further concern over the UK’s recovery. The reading published by GfK NOP dropped to minus 31 in August, 13 points below a year ago and one point lower than July. On most previous occasions it was this low, it was accompanied by a recession.

Bunzl readies £300m war chest

Bunzl, which supplies consumer packaging, take-away boxes and healthcare products, has said a “promising pipeline” of acquisitions should lead to further growth after half-year profits rose 11 per cent to £139m. The distribution and outsourcing group said it had a war chest worth more than £300m available for acquisitions.

Chemring order book nears £1bn

The military equipment maker Chemring has reported an order book worth £996m, which is 43 per cent higher than a year ago. With the company also announcing a 33 per cent rise in revenues to £164m for the three months to July, Chemring said prospects for the 2012 financial year were good.

Regus reports revenue gains

The office provider Regus, which has 158 centres in the UK, has reported a 13 per cent increase in worldwide customer numbers to 904,086, of which more than 700,000 are home or mobile workers. Half-year revenues were up 10 per cent to £566m while profits rose more than 35 per cent to £14m.

Macarthur Coal agrees takeover

Peabody Energy and Arcelor-Mittal have won over Macarthur Coal with a sweetened A$4.9bn (£3.2bn) offer, after a rival bidder failed to emerge for the Australian coal miner. The takeover is the latest in a flurry of deals in Australia, with global firms snapping up coal mines to feed booming demand from Asian steel mills.

Afren ramping up production

Plans for raising production at Afren are on track, the African-focused oil and gas group said as it posted a 42 per cent drop in half-yearly profits after a delay in the start-up of its flagship Ebok field in Nigeria. Afren is now ramping up production towards its targeted 50,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.

Optimism in economy falls

Eurozone economic sentiment deteriorated more than expected in August, underlining the prospect of a further slowdown in the second half. A monthly survey from the European Commission showed optimism over the economy, a good indication of future economic activity, fell across all sectors.

Italy warns of debt fears

Italy’s central bank has said that the weakening economy threatens efforts to contain the country’s debt mountain. Ignazio Visco, the deputy director-general of the central bank, said growth was likely to be less than 1 per cent in 2011 and said Italy’s austerity package must include measures to boost growth.