WH Smith halts sales fall with overseas shops June 11, 2014 WH SMITH, the books to stationery retailer, brought years of sales decline to a halt in the last quarter, thanks to its strategy of opening more shops in airports and travel locations around the world. Shares in WH Smith edged up 1.5 per cent yesterday as it revealed that total group sales were flat in [...]
UK Coal loan falls through June 11, 2014 COAL producer Hargreaves Services has withdrawn a loan offer to rival miner UK Coal, saying it could not agree to a loan plan with other parties discussing the managed shutdown of the company. UK Coal, Britain’s largest coal producer, went into administration last year and trading has deteriorated further due to competition from cheaper coal [...]
Zara owner Inditex’s quarterly profits hit by falling currencies June 11, 2014 ZARA and Massimo Dutti owner Inditex posted its biggest fall in quarterly profits in half a decade yesterday after a strong euro dragged down sales. Net profits fell to €406m in the first quarter compared with €438m the same time last year. Falling currencies in some of its markets, such as Japan and Russia, knocked [...]
Woodford to weigh in on AA float June 11, 2014 WOODFORD Investment Management, the new fund of veteran manager Neil Woodford, is set to make a “substantial investment” in the flotation of the AA, City A.M. understands. Woodford’s plan to make a major commitment to the intial public offering (IPO) of the breakdown recovery firm was originally reported by Sky News. The AA’s intention to IPO [...]
Is Roy Hodgson man enough for the FTSE 100? June 11, 2014 BREWIN Dolphin’s latest piece of equity research is an interesting read. It relates to the London listed company with shares trading under the ticker EFT. Not familiar? To give you some clues, its share price is currently 2014p with a 12-month rating of “outperform” and it’s CEO is a Hodgson – yep, it’s the England [...]
Boris Bentos to hit the South Bank at new Japanese restaurant June 11, 2014 London is full of themed restaurants but County Hall might have just become the site of the weirdest one –Izakaya Boris – a casual Japanese eatery for which BoJo is the mascot. There’s a plastic cartoon-like icon of Boris Johnson outside the restaurant and one inside and again on the menu. The question on everybody’s [...]
Betfair looks to World Cup to keep winning June 11, 2014 BETFAIR is hoping the World Cup will continue the bookmaker’s winning streak after its annual profit beat forecasts yesterday, sending its shares up almost one per cent to 1,032p. The online gambling company reported that group revenues rose two per cent to £393.6m and underlying profits jumped 61 per cent to £61.1m during the year [...]
Analyst Views: How impressed were you with Betfair’s annual results? June 11, 2014 JAMES HOLLINS | INVESTECWe are unlikely significantly to adjust full year 2015 earnings estimates. Although the market may be disappointed at no special dividend, we think it will come in the near term (revenue rising and costs very much under control due to actions by the relatively new management). We stay at Hold. NICK BATRAM [...]
ECB official claims securitised loans boost economic stability June 11, 2014 THE BUNDLES of loans that were blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis could in fact make the economy more stable, a top EU official said yesterday. Simple and transparent asset backed securities (ABS) – bundles of loans such as mortgages or business loans – can be sold on to non-bank investors who want to lend to those [...]
World chilled by US slump June 11, 2014 SEVERE US weather and the crisis in Ukraine have dampened global growth prospects this year, according to the World Bank’s new forecasts yesterday. The World Bank says global growth is likely to be 2.8 per cent this year, down from the 3.2 per cent previously projected. Societe Generale analysts added that the dip in US GDP [...]