Primark buoys AB Foods as sugar continues to sour performance April 23, 2014 Shares in Primark owner Associated British Foods are up over six per cent this morning, after the group announced a six per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £434m in the first half of the financial year, and a 26 per cent jump in Primark's profit. The group called the results “resilient”, despite facing ongoing challenges [...]
Sports Direct sales jump as board squares up to shareholders April 23, 2014 Sports Direct has reported a jump in sales of 10.3 per cent to £360m for the nine weeks ended 30 March. The sports retailer saw gross profit rise 11.5 per cent £147m. The company enjoyed strong increases from the brands division and sports retail sales. Premium Lifestyle sales also rose by 0.7 per cent to [...]
Primark to open stores in northeast US April 23, 2014 Primark is set to make its first foray in the US, opening stores in the north east, owner Associated British Foods has announced this morning. After “extensive research”, the decision’s been made to take the budget high street shop to consumers in the US, AB Foods said. A new store with 70,000 square feet of selling [...]
Any Other Business – 23/4 April 23, 2014 WHOEVER said banks were too macho? Goldman Sachs revealed some preference for the trend of flavoured beers in its US alcohol outlook this week, claiming that flavourisation is helping beer to stay relevant with the current consumers. The bank’s analysts praised Bud Light “Rita”, which comes in Strawberry flavour, as well as MillerCoors’ Apple Ale [...]
Asian markets shrug off Chinese manufacturing data April 23, 2014 Asian markets are relatively flat after Chinese manufacturing data came in line with expectations but still showed the sector in contractionary territory. Markit's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rebounded, from 48 in March to 48.3 in April, exactly in line with Bloomberg's median forecast. The pick-up was primarily due to rebounds in the output and [...]
Business looks forward to new Indian leader April 23, 2014 MORE than half of India’s companies are positive that business conditions will be better after the country’s long election, according to a survey released today. According to Deutsche Borse’s latest MNI indicators for the country, 51.5 per cent of the firms surveyed say that they will perform better after the five-week election, while only one [...]
Mega drug deals light up markets April 22, 2014 DRUG deals sparked a global stock market rally yesterday after pharmaceutical firms unveiled almost $70bn of tie-ups and takeovers, sending investors rushing to buy shares in anticipation of more deals in the pipeline. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) unveiled the biggest British asset sale so far this year after agreeing to offload a division to Swiss drugs firm [...]
Manchester United shares leap following Moyes sacking April 22, 2014 MANCHESTER United’s shares yesterday soared to their highest price since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson following confirmation that his successor David Moyes had been sacked. Shares leapt more than seven per cent to $19 on the New York Stock Exchange, before closing at $18.78, after the Premier League football club announced the dismissal of [...]
Tax hurdles throw doubt on advertising mega deal April 22, 2014 OMNICOM, the world’s second largest advertising agency, said yesterday it is unable to predict when its $35.1bn (£20.8bn) merger with Publicis Groupe would close, raising concerns that the deal might not go through. Omnicom said the mega merger has yet to receive approval from antitrust authorities in China or approval to establish tax residency in [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 April 2014 April 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Russian bank’s post-Crimea bond A Russian bank in the oil-rich region of Tatarstan has become the country’s first lender to issue a dollar-denominated bond since Moscow’s official annexation of Crimea and the subsequent tension with western governments. Tatfondbank, which has branches across Russia, raised $70m yesterday through a three-year bond. Numericable eyes €8.5bn [...]