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Tuesday’s (5 February) shock profit warning from semiconductor intellectual property expert ARM Holdings (ARM) drove the Cambridge firm’s shares down by 15% to 100p, their lowest level since 2006, and hammered sentiment on the already downtrodden tech sector. Chief executive... READ MORE >>

Life Sciences group Whatman (WHM) is to be bought out by GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (GE:NYSE), for £363 million. Whatman’s shareholders will receive 270p per share in cash through the deal. Chief executive, Kieran Murphy, who will be staying on at the... READ MORE >>

Fashion retailer Marchpole (MPH) chose late last Friday afternoon (1 February) to bury its second profits warning in ten weeks. Originally the company expected to enjoy profits of £8 million, but now is forecasting a loss to the embarrassment of its brokers – who could contemplate... READ MORE >>

Explorer Roxi Petroleum (RXP:AIM), which listed in May last year, has returned to the market following a five month suspension having agreed in principle to acquire a majority interest in Kazakhstan’s Eragon Petroleum for $190 million. Eragon is the holding company for three... READ MORE >>

Three leading US banks will pay more attention to environmental issues when deciding whether or not to finance greenhouse gas-intensive industries from now on. The Carbon Principles, announced this week, are backed by Citibank, JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley, while other banks look... READ MORE >>

A 27% drop in third quarter net profits for budget airline Ryanair (RYA), and a warning that profits could fall by as much as 50% next year, has left a cautious feel to the airline sector as higher oil prices and fear of a recession continue to pile on the... READ MORE >>

More bids for engineering companies are expected in the wake of Melrose’s (MRO) proposed £325 million cash offer for ailing FKI (FKI) – the turbo generators and wire rope group. FKI shares shot up by almost half to 67p just 3p shy of the indicated 70p bid price. Top of the ... READ MORE >>

A major distribution deal is the latest boost for ZTC Communications (ZTC:AIM), which continues to cash in on its niche position as a designer and assembler of low-to-mid range phones, aimed at the rural communities of western, northern and central mainland China. Under the terms of the... READ MORE >>

Shareholders in bill payment and ATM provider Payzone (PAYZ:AIM) will be called to an emergency meeting in March to vote on removing CEO John Nagle and CFO John Williamson. The board of Payzone, which was created from the merger of Alphyra and Cardpoint in December 2007, announced in mid... READ MORE >>

The bids for Northern Rock (NRK) are in and investors will be disturbed by the absence of Luqman Arnold’s Olivant Group, which had been seen as the shareholders preferred option. That leaves just two rescue plans for the government to choose from, one proposal comes from Sir Richard... READ MORE >>

Leading marine safety equipment company Cosalt (CSLT) is confident it will continue to grow rapidly this year. Chief executive Per Jonsson plans to buy a further two service stations overseas for around £15 million. This would lift the total to 29, with over half the stations in the UK.... READ MORE >>

Chinese investment in foreign mining companies has stepped up a gear with last week’s $14 billion purchase of a 12% stake in Rio Tinto (RIO) by Chinese state mining company Chinalco and aluminium producer Alcoa. Australian iron ore miner Fortescue is the focus of a rumoured $2... READ MORE >>

Belt tightening is hitting the food industry sparking a pair of profit warnings as producers struggle to pass on cost increases to consumers. Both sausage maker Cranswick (CWK) and dairy producer Robert Wiseman (RWD) say raw material price hikes are squeezing profit margins, with Cranswick... READ MORE >>

A shock admission that average net debt came in much higher than expected in the second half of last year drove shares in virtual network operator Vanco (VAN) down to a new all-time low of 91.5p this week, despite assurances from the £58 million cap it remains in compliance with its... READ MORE >>