Mothercare losses narrow October 14, 2010 Mothercare said its overseas sales have overtaken British figures for the first time. The company extended plans for new overseas store openings this year from 100 to 150, which would increase selling space by a fifth. That would push the total number of stores up to 1,270 in 54 countries. But while the international business [...]
Watchdog error over Nestle logo October 14, 2010 Nestle was wrongly allowed to use a government health logo on its website, the Department of Health admitted yesterday. The anti-obesity Change4Life logo should only have appeared alongside a healthy lifestyle message. Instead, it appeared on a website promoting snacks and cereals. The government said it would review the logo’s use and Nestle said it [...]
IHG hits £1bn mark in China October 14, 2010 InterContinental Hotels (IHG) said yesterday sales from China would beat $1bn (£626m) for the first time this year, as it prepares to double its hotel count in the fast-growing market. The emergence of a middle class in China who are keen on travel has led big hotel operators to pile into the market, with InterContinental, [...]
World stocks hit two-year high October 14, 2010 World stocks hit a two year high, touching levels not seen since September 2008 just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Emerging market stocks led the way, with their best performance since June 2008. MSCI’s all-country world index, a leading benchmark used by professional investors, was up 0.8 per cent in the day at around [...]
Ashmore sees assets jump to £26bn October 14, 2010 Emerging markets fund manager Ashmore saw assets jump 18 per cent in the first quarter to an estimated £26.2bn – fuelled by Asian retail investors. Assets under management had been forecast to rise up to 10 per cent to £24.6bn at the end of September. the company said that it had net inflows of £2.1bn, [...]
John Laing to float infrastructure fund October 14, 2010 Infrastructure group John Laing has announced its intention to list an infrastructure fund in London raising up to £270m. Laing, owned by asset manager Henderson Group, will sell up to £256m of yielding infrastructure assets to the newly formed John Laing Infrastructure Fund, in a move that was flagged up earlier this month. This forms [...]
Mouchel warns over profit in tough environment October 14, 2010 Outsourcer Mouchel has warned full-year profit could be lower than expected. The company, which provides maintenance for highways and handles local government payrolls, estimated that pre-tax profit before exceptionals for the year would be around £30.5m. Analysts were, on average, expecting £34.85m, a Thomson Reuters poll showed. “Taking into account the challenging business environment and [...]
WH Smith hikes dividend after profit rise October 14, 2010 Retailer WH Smith beat forecasts with a nine per cent rise in year profit, hiked its final dividend by 18 per cent and said it would return up to £50m to shareholders. The newspapers, books and stationery retailer, said the return of cash would be through a share buyback programme. WH Smith made an underlying [...]
Asos sees sales surge by 47 per cent October 14, 2010 Online fashion retailer ASOS said it was on track to meet full-year profit forecasts after a 47 per cent surge in second-quarter sales. ASOS, which launched a US website last month, also said it expected to launch French and German versions by the end of the month. Retail sales jumped to £69.7m in the three [...]
Private equity firms court partners for Yahoo bid October 14, 2010 Several private equity firms have approached Internet and media companies including News Corp and AOL to gauge their interest in buying out Yahoo, a source with knowledge of the approaches said. The news comes as Yahoo, the No.2 search engine in the United States behind Google Inc , struggles to revive its revenue growth under [...]