Provident falls after CSR plans October 21, 2010 Provident Financial, the country’s biggest subprime lender, fell to its lowest level in three months after the coalition government spelled out plans for the biggest spending cuts on record in this week’s Comprehensive Spending Review. It closed down 3.3 per cent to 773p, its biggest decline since 27 July. That values the lender at about [...]
Debenhams brand fuels profit surge October 21, 2010 DEBENHAMS said yesterday that sales of its own brand ranges had helped it to increase its profit by 20 per cent. The rise in the year to 28 August came as the company also reduced its debt. Sales of Debenhams own brand ranges, which include H! by Henry Holland and Principles by Ben De Lisi, [...]
TUI finance chief quits after £117m black hole leaves company red faced October 21, 2010 Tui Travel yesterday admitted it had found a £117m hole on its balance sheet, a blunder that will see the finance director depart the company. The holiday operator – which owns the Thomson brand – was forced to restate its financial results for errors that go back several years. Paul Bowtell has offered his resignation [...]
Inchcape lifts guidance but still plans to shed 500 jobs October 21, 2010 CAR dealer Inchcape plans to cut 500 jobs due to a tough ongoing conditions in four of its markets, although 2010 profits will come in slightly ahead of its expectations. “Given the challenging outlook in 2011 for new car demand in four of our markets, namely the UK, Greece, Belgium and Singapore, we plan to [...]
Apple vies for Lion’s share of app market October 21, 2010 JUST two days after reporting yet another quarter of record revenues and profits, Apple wheeled out the latest version of its ultra-thin MacBook air. With the roaring success of the iPhone 4 and the iPad – which Apple still can’t produce quickly enough to meet demand – the release of a new ºlaptop, albeit the [...]
McDonald’s posts strong profit rise October 21, 2010 McDonald’s yesterday beat Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit and same-store sales growth in September as the popularity of its fruit smoothies and Dollar Menu helped it win further market share. The world’s biggest hamburger chain is outperforming the overall fast-food sector, which is struggling with high US unemployment and economic weakness domestically and in [...]
Henderson sees its assets grow by 5pc October 21, 2010 FUND management group Henderson saw its assets under management rise five per cent over the third quarter of the year due to market and foreign exchange gains, despite cautious investors pulling a net £100m out of the firm’s funds. Assets under management grew £2.8bn to a total of £59.2bn over the quarter, pulling them up [...]
Investment banking woes hit Arbuthnot October 21, 2010 BANKING group Arbuthnot yesterday warned its investment banking arm had suffered over the third quarter from deteriorating market conditions, sending its shares plummeting. Arbuthnot, which also operates wealth management and financial planning services, said its investment banking arm had nonetheless managed to remained profitable for the past year, with its corporate finance pipeline for the [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS October 21, 2010 WILLIAM HILL Execution Noble has reiterated its “buy” recommendation for the bookmaker saying business continues to hold up and management now expects to come out at the top end of current analyst forecasts for the current year. The broker says William Hill is managing its market position and looks better than its peers and is [...]
Government to raise £2.5bn through bank levy October 21, 2010 The Governmnet said it expected to generate around £2.5bn of annual revenues by 2012-13 via a permanent levy on banks’ balance sheets. The figure was in line with a forecast made when the levy was announced in the budget in June. The government has now published draft legislation on a levy which will take effect [...]