Criminals are choosing jail time over paying fines, warn MPs March 20, 2014 CRIMINALS are choosing to serve longer prison sentences rather than pay fines associated with their crime, MPs have discovered. A new report details the lengths some criminals go to in order to avoid getting hit with so-called confiscation orders – where assets gained through crime are seized by the government. “Crime should not pay, but [...]
Profits rise at Premier Farnell March 20, 2014 Premier Farnell, a distributor of electronic devices and components, has reported an 8.4 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax profit, helped by higher-than-expected sales in China, India and eastern Europe in the second half of the year. Premier Farnell said sales in emerging markets rose 14.9 per cent in the year, topping the company’s target [...]
Chinese shoppers boost Hermes March 20, 2014 French luxury goods maker Hermes saw good demand over the Chinese New Year, the company said yesterday, underscoring its resilience to a crackdown on illicit gift-giving in the industry’s biggest market that has hit some rivals hard. Posting a nine per cent rise in 2013 operating profit, the maker of Birkin handbags and printed silk [...]
Correction March 20, 2014 On page 26 of yesterday’s City A.M. we attributed a Budget response statement from A Fair Tax on Flying to IAG chief executive Willie Walsh. While IAG and British Airways have supported calls to scrap air passenger duty, Walsh is not a member of A Fair Tax on Flying. We are happy to set the [...]
ITV boss Adam Crozier sees pay rocket to £8.4m March 20, 2014 ITV CHIEF executive Adam Crozier’s pay nearly trebled last year to £8.36m, from £2.9m a year earlier. The majority of the windfall was due to a share-based joining award from 2010 which has soared in value to £4m in line with the broadcaster’s fortunes under Crozier. “The level of vesting of both awards reflects the [...]
M&C Saatchi’s revenues reach record high on new business March 20, 2014 ADVERTISING giant M&C Saatchi reported a five per cent increase in full-year revenue to £177.4m after it brought on board new clients such as the UK government and coffee chain Douwe Egberts. M&C Saatchi’s shares closed slightly up at 297.5p after it reported an eight per cent profit boost to £18.6m. “2013 was another year [...]
Port operator DP World beats profit forecasts March 20, 2014 THE OWNER of the London Gateway container port yesterday said patchy global demand for freight shipments dampened its revenues last year, though profits were up more than forecast. Dubai-based DP World said turnover fell 1.5 per cent to $3.1bn last year. Profits rose 10.9 per cent to $604m, or 26.6 per cent at constant currency. [...]
Losses mount at data firm Wandisco March 20, 2014 WANDISCO, the Sheffield-based firm that specialises in online collaboration software and big data products for businesses, saw losses increase last year to $7.83m (£4.7m) after the firm’s staffing costs more than doubled. Shares in the company remained flat yesterday after it was reported a number of major new customer wins, including Goldman Sachs, Cisco and [...]
United Utilities upbeat despite price restraint March 20, 2014 FTSE 100 listed water firm United Utilities said yesterday that it expects a rise in both profit and revenue for the full year thanks to better cost control and a regulated rise in prices. The pick-up in performance comes despite United Utilities deciding, alongside rival firms, not to enforce the full price rises that it [...]
Mitie trading in line as it unveils new £75m Network Rail contract March 20, 2014 OUTSOURCING company Mitie yesterday said that it expects to deliver full-year results in line with expectations, as it unveiled a new £75m Network Rail contract. The FTSE 250 firm has been reducing its exposure to the loss-making construction element of its asset management business, but said it expects a one-off impairment of around £10m to [...]