Shares News

By Mark Potter and Marius Bosch LONDON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Associated British Foods (ABF.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has agreed to buy 51 percent of Africa's biggest sugar producer, Illovo (ILVJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) , for 317 million pounds in cash, as it looks to meet the challenge of European sugar reforms. AB Foods, whose extensive sugar interests include British Sugar and the  ...

Associated British Foods, the company behind Silver Spoon sugar and the Primark clothing chain, has launched a £317m bid for a 51 per cent controlling stake in Illovo Sugar, Africa's biggest sugar producer. The R21 (174p) a share cash offer would value the South Africa-based company at £621m and comes after Tereos, a French sugar cooperative, last month dropped its bid for Illovo.href="http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft-com/quotechartnews.asp?FTSite=FTCOM&q=ABF&searchtype&expanded=& ...

By Marc Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in MFI Furniture Group (MFI.L: Quote, Profile, Research) jumped 18 percent on Friday after the company said numerous buyers were interested in acquiring its retail stores. "We have received expressions of interest in all or part of our retail business from a number of third parties, and we are in the process of evaluating this interest in the context of o ...

By Anshuman Daga and Dan Lalor LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Mittal Steel (ISPA.AS: Quote, Profile, Research) is set to raise its hostile bid for rival steelmaker Arcelor (CELR.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) , sources familiar with the situation told Reuters on Friday after trading in both companies' shares was suspended. Overnight, the Financial Times newspaper said, without citing sources, that Mittal Steel's bankers were mulling options to increase the company's hostile 18 billion euro bid fo ...

Geoff Foster, Daily Mail19 May 2006 BATTERED investors were exposed to another white-knuckle ride as a frantic Footsie traded all over the place. OTHER STORIES Market report: Friday preview Fresh plunge for UK shares Has the bull run out of steam? Smaller companies report: Thursday close McVeigh mines for winners THE EDITOR'S CHOICE TOP TOOL: Protect your ID TOP REPORT: Make ...

LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones) -Design-software firm Autodesk Inc. late Thursday said its quarterly profit sank 36% as higher expenses related to employee stock options weighed on its bottom line, more than offsetting a stronger-than- expected 23% jump in revenue. Autodesk's results, stripped of one-time items, outpaced the average of analysts' estimates. The maker of the AutoCAD software program, widel ...

U.S. stocks ended lower Thursday as the latest economic data, a drop in bond yields and hawkish remarks from a Fed official did little to change investor expectations that interest rates have further to rise. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 77.32 points to 11,128. Over the last two sessions, the benchmark index has fallen nearly 300 points. The Nasdaq Composite Index (RIXF) ended ...

NEW YORK (WSJ.com) -- Brazilian shares tumbled Thursday as foreign investors continued to exit the country. The benchmark Ibovespa index fell 1.3% to 37,807 points. Blue-chip shares were mostly down. State-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro ( PBR) , or Petrobras, sank 2.6% to 43.49 reals. Traditional volume leader Telemar (TNE) , Brazil's largest phone company, continued its recent fall, slidi ...

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones) - Dell Inc. finally opened the door to using chips made by Advanced Micro Devices Inc., and the switch was cheered by AMD investors. After more than a year of speculation, the world's No. 1 personal computer maker said late Thursday it plans to use chips from AMD in its high-end server product line, sending AMD shares (AMD) up more than 15% in evening trading to $ 35.6 ...

By Chris Nuttall in San FranciscoPublished: May 18 2006 23:27 | Last updated: May 18 2006 23:27Dell signalled a significant tectonic shift in alliances in the personal computer world on Thursday as it announced it would end its exclusive use of Intel microprocessors and begin buying from its arch-rival Advanced Micro Devices. // The move underscored Dell’s difficulties in competing with rival Hew ...