City studs fail to romp home at Cheltenham March 13, 2014 IT WAS a misty start to the day at Cheltenham yesterday, but with champagne corks popping from around 10.30am it was by no means glum. Although punters were treated to six races and one charity race in total, all eyes were on The Ladbrokes World Hurdle Race, which shaped up to be something of a battle [...]
O’Leary’s return of the mac March 13, 2014 THE RYANAIR Chase gathered almost as much attention as the airline’s chief exec himself yesterday, as Michael O’Leary broke with sartorial tradition (true to form) and entered the parade ring in a beige mac, standing out from his tweed jacketed peers. Sadly, despite it being St Patrick’s Day Thursday his Irish eyes won’t have been [...]
Home Retail’s sales jump as Duddy departs March 13, 2014 HOME Retail Group’s outgoing chief executive Terry Duddy will leave the company on a high after reporting strong full-year sales yesterday across both of its businesses and raising full-year forecasts. Sales at Argos leapt 5.2 per cent to £526m in the eight weeks to 1 March, with same store sales growing by the same amount [...]
Investors keen on bosses who move from bootcamp to board March 13, 2014 INVESTORS tend to believe that firms with ex-military executives can steal a march on their competitors, according to new research. Almost four in ten retail investors are more willing to put money into a firm whose chief executive had served in the armed forces, compared to 11 per cent who said a boss with military [...]
Gulf Keystone plunges after oil reserves fall short of forecasts March 13, 2014 OIL EXPLORER Gulf Keystone Petroleum’s share price plummeted nearly 17 per cent yesterday, after an independent review of its reserves in Kurdistan massively undershot expectations. The Aim-listed company, which hopes to move to the main market on 24 March, said that reserves at the Shaikan oil field equated to 9.38bn barrels of oil, compared to [...]
Rothschild wins yacht dispute March 13, 2014 Nat Rothschild has won a long-running legal dispute over a €41.7m superyacht he ordered in 2006. The Court of Appeal backed the tycoon’s decision to call in the payment of a loan made to the manufacturers, Monaco Yachting & Technology. The loan was intended to fund construction of the 71.5m motor yacht, codenamed Project Nato, [...]
Pace director back from sail race March 13, 2014 Set-top box maker Pace has rehired Mike Inglis as a non-executive director, a year after he stepped down to take part in the Clipper Round the World yacht race. Inglis, who served on the Pace board from 2008 to 2013, also left his post as chief commercial officer of Arm Holdings last year as he [...]
Peel Hunt hires dealmaker Haxby March 13, 2014 Peel Hunt has hired City dealmaker Adrian Haxby as a director in its corporate business. Haxby, who left his post as head of European investment banking at Canaccord Genuity last summer, will join the broking and advisory house next month. He previously worked for UBS as head of its UK mid-market group. Haxby said of [...]
Digital growth failing to stem Trinity’s losses March 13, 2014 TRINITY Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror and more than 100 regional titles, saw its shares slide yesterday after reporting its sixth straight year of declining revenues due to weakness in the firm’s print operations. Trinity swung to a loss of £160.8m during the 12 months to 29 December as it absorbed a £225m writedown [...]
Vectura taps market for £52m to help snap up asthma specialist March 13, 2014 RESPIRATORY drug company Vectura raised £52m yesterday to fund the purchase of a German asthma expert, making it the latest in a line of British biotech firms to tap the markets in recent months. Vectura, which makes inhalers to treat respiratory diseases, is spending a total of £109m to take over nebuliser specialist Activaero in [...]