Man Group stops the rot after its buyback lifts investor sentiment February 27, 2014 THE WORLD’S biggest listed hedge fund Man Group showed signs of a turnaround yesterday after unveiling a $115m (£68.9m) share buyback programme and $700m of net inflows for the fourth quarter. Shares in the company rose 14.3 per cent in trading yesterday as investors gave the thumbs up to the improved performance figures. “2013 was [...]
Liberty Prints back in vogue as sales surge February 27, 2014 LIBERTY, the 139-year-old department store, said yesterday that sales surged seven per cent to £124m in the year to February, with earnings of £17.5m, as overseas demand for its renowned fabrics soared. Its owner BlueGem has also sold part of its stake to a new group of investors.
WPP falls short on margins but wins big clients February 27, 2014 NEW ADVERTISING clients have helped WPP deliver an industry-beating 18.7 per cent rise in profits for last year, though investors were disappointed yesterday by the FTSE 100 firm’s margin forecast. Sir Martin Sorrell’s media outfit said it expects margins to increase 0.3 percentage points this year, trimmed from an earlier prediction of 0.5 points. Operating [...]
Glaxo doubles Witty’s bonus but insists China scandal has hit pay February 27, 2014 UK-BASED pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline more than doubled its top executives’ bonuses last year, and said that remuneration would have been even higher if not for an ongoing bribery scandal in China. In its annual report published yesterday, Glaxo said that the development of a healthy pipeline of new drugs was one reason behind a sharp rise [...]
Carlyle Group founders pick up $93m each February 27, 2014 THE FOUNDERS of private equity firm Carlyle Group each received $92.9m in dividends and salaries in 2013, a regulatory filing yesterday showed, up from $57.6m in 2012. David Rubenstein (pictured), William Conway and Daniel D’Aniello forfeited their bonuses for the second consecutive year.
Sainsbury’s online boss promoted February 27, 2014 Sainsbury’s has promoted the head of its £1bn online business Jon Rudoe to the operating board, as the supermarket chain ramps up its online efforts. Sainsbury’s said the move reflected “the rapidly growing importance of online and digital sales channels,” with Rudoe taking over all responsibility for IT. Before joining Sainsbury’s in 2011 Rudoe was [...]
Asda staff in line for £28m bonus February 27, 2014 Asda is to pay out £27.8m in staff bonuses today, with some employees receiving up to £500 after the Walmart-owned chain published results last week showing a slowdown in fourth quarter sales. Some 142,600 staff who have worked over six months at Asda will receive a bonus of up to £320 while 14,000 colleagues from [...]
Societe Generale pays $122m fine February 27, 2014 Societe Generale yesterday agreed to pay $122m (£73m) to settle a lawsuit by a US regulator The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) accusing the bank of misleading Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the purchase of mortgage-backed securities. “The settlement will have no material impact on the group’s earnings,” Societe Generale said.
15,000 homes sold under Help To Buy scheme February 27, 2014 FIGURES released yesterday showed that nearly 15,000 people used the first part of the government’s controversial Help to Buy scheme up to the end of January. The policy, which allows house buyers to offer much smaller deposits on newly built homes, is just the first half of a larger plan that has been opened up [...]
Eurozone confidence sneaks up despite ongoing fall in lending February 27, 2014 SENTIMENT about the Eurozone’s economies improved again during February, staying in positive territory for another month, according to a survey by the European Commission. The index edged slightly higher, up to 101.2, with any figure over 100 marking the long-term average level. In January, it stood at 101. The currency union’s business climate indicator also [...]