Dragon Jones breathes new life into Jessops January 31, 2013 CAMERA brand Jessops, which saw its shops collapse into administration last month, has been sold to a group of buyers including Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones, administrators said yesterday. The deal, structured by administrators PwC, involves the sale of Jessops’ 78- year old brand, existing stock and “intellectual property”, which involves non-physical assets like trademarks [...]
New AstraZeneca boss sees big fall in profit and sales January 31, 2013 ASTRAZENECA’s new boss said yesterday that the drug maker faced a tough year, with sales expected to fall by a mid-to-high single digit percentage rate as patent expiries continued to erode business. Earnings will decline “significantly more than revenue” this year as operating costs rise, the drug maker said yesterday. Fourth-quarter sales fell 16 per [...]
Nasdaq OMX’s earnings rise January 31, 2013 NASDAQ OMX Group yesterday reported a higher fourth-quarter profit as an increase in non-transaction-based revenues outweighed an industry-wide drop in trading volumes. Net income attributable to the transatlantic exchange operator totalled $85m (£51m), or 50 cents a share, up from $82m, or 45 cents a share, a year earlier.
Price rises help Diageo offset European woes January 31, 2013 DRINKS giant Diageo reported a rise in sales in the second half of the year, driven by price rises and growth in the US of premium brands like Ketel One vodka and Bulleit Bourbon. The maker of Baileys and Guinness beer saw global sales grow five per cent to £6.04bn in the six months to [...]
Big four tax bosses defend their firms during grilling from MPs January 31, 2013 TAX heads at the big four accountancy firms clashed with MPs yesterday over their role in helping large companies to reduce their tax bills. Margaret Hodge, who chairs the public accounts committee, called for PwC, KPMG, Deloitte and Ernst & Young to be banned from doing work for the government in light of the loopholes [...]
US sues to block $20bn AB Inbev takeover of Mexico’s Modelo January 31, 2013 THE US government yesterday filed a lawsuit in a bid to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) from buying the half of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it does not already own, saying the $20.1bn deal could mean higher US beer prices. AB InBev said it will fight back in federal court, calling the Justice Department’s [...]
New TV services lift Sky’s profits as rivals circle January 31, 2013 AN IMPRESSIVE showing from BSkyB’s new on-demand internet streaming service, Now TV, helped it to a 10 per cent rise in profits, the broadcaster said yesterday. Sky said that half of the 50,000 new TV customers it signed up during the last six months of 2012 were for Now TV, which charges customers £15 a [...]
Dealmakers already confident of better times ahead January 31, 2013 With the first month of the year out of the way, most investment bankers are beginning to feel a little bit chirpier – at least those of them lucky enough still to be in a job. In Europe, January has brought a few large deals to the markets, including ArcelorMittal’s $3.5bn (£2.21bn) mandatory convertible bond [...]
US corporate results round up January 31, 2013 Colgate-Palmolive’s sales slow but profit still rises Colgate-Palmolive said yesterday a key measure of sales growth slowed for the second quarter in a row, partly due to economic and labour problems in Venezuela. It earned $598m, or $1.26 per share, in the fourth quarter, up slightly from $590m, or $1.21 per share, in the quarter [...]
Apple’s slice of the tablet pie shrinks in the fourth quarter January 31, 2013 APPLE’S share of the tablet market fell over the Christmas period, even as it sold record numbers of iPads, according to research. Figures from market analysts IDC claim that the iPad and iPad mini accounted for 43.6 per cent of worldwide sales in the fourth quarter of 2012. This was down from 51.7 per cent [...]