House market recovery lifts Dixons’ sales September 9, 2014 DIXONS CARPHONE, the newly formed high street giant, said yesterday it had made a strong start to the year, with sales basking in the aftermath of the World Cup and benefitting from rising consumer confidence. Chief executive Sebastian James said that the recovery in the housing market helped to boost demand and that while consumer [...]
US discounters get antitrust request for info September 9, 2014 TWO TOP US discounters yesterday reported that they had received a second request for information from American antitrust regulators about Dollar Tree’s $8.5bn (£5.25bn) bid to acquire Family Dollar. The move by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which Dollar Tree said last week was coming, means the deal’s government-mandated waiting period would be extended until 30 [...]
Analysts to the fore in big sectorial shakeups September 9, 2014 ANALYST of the year The role of the analyst has become increasingly important at such an uncertain time in the economy, when everyone is looking for guidance. With the UK retail sector in turmoil over the decline of Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Waitrose and especially Tesco – caused mainly by the rise of the German discounters – their views [...]
Even the Scots’ flag wants out! September 9, 2014 IT was like a scene from vintage political satire The Thick of It. Actually, it may even have been too far-fetched for the BBC’s writers. Picture the scene: Liberal Democrat big-hitter, proud Scot and former head of press at the Cairngorms National Park Danny Alexander stands atop the roof of Number 10, his ginger hair [...]
BMW celebrates the three million Mini mark September 9, 2014 IT WAS a big day for Mini yesterday as German owner BMW celebrated three million of the iconic modern cars having rolled off the production lines since it bought the brand back in 2001. The three millionth Mini itself, a five-door Hatch Cooper S, had a special union jack paint job for the occasion
Hotel demand helps Whitbread sleep easy September 9, 2014 WHITBREAD said yesterday that sales sprinted ahead in the second quarter of the year as major sporting events such as the Commonwealth Games helped to boost trade at Premier Inn. The FTSE 100 leisure conglomerate, which also owns Costa Coffee, posted a 12.8 per cent rise in sales in the 11 weeks to 14 August, [...]
BBC Trust nominee grilled by MPs September 9, 2014 RONA Fairhead, the preferred candidate for chairmanship of the BBC Trust, faced a grilling by MPs yesterday morning, including questions over her role during the HSBC Mexico money laundering scandal and her Pearson pay off. Fairhead was the chair of HSBC’s risk committee at the time of the case, which resulted in the bank being [...]
Analyst Views: Will you make any changes to your Whitbread forecasts following this update? September 9, 2014 WYN ELLIS | NUMIS We have increased our 2015 earnings before interest and tax forecast by three per cent to £508.6m on the back of yesterday’s very encouraging update… Management says that, Whitbread remains on track for another good year… We concur and expect the shares to respond positively. GEOF COLLIER | DEUTSCHE BANK Management [...]
Libor and forex scandals: Banks admit they are “puzzled” over how to stop rate fixing September 9, 2014 Banks and regulators have still not found a way to be sure of stopping traders from manipulating Libor, foreign exchange and other benchmarks, top watchdog Martin Wheatley said yesterday. More than two years on from the first bank fine over attempted Libor fiddling, the new setup for benchmark regulation is yet to be finalised. “I [...]
Network Rail’s public image in danger of running off track – Brand Index September 9, 2014 NEWS that Network Rail will be answerable to parliament – having its status changed so that it counts as part of the private sector – has caused a stir among MPs, executives and the public more generally. Is this the first step on the road to re-nationalisation? Is this what the public want? And how [...]