Invista to sell assets after losing biggest client Lloyds October 12, 2010 INVISTA Real Estate is to be effectively wound up following the end of a major contract with Lloyds Banking Group, it admitted yesterday. The company had been managing assets of £2.4bn on behalf of HBOS since it demerged from the bank in 2006 and listed on the Alternative Investment Market. But on Monday Lloyds Banking [...]
BARCAP VICE-CHAIR TO BACK CITY WOMEN IN PLURAL DIRECTOR ROLE October 12, 2010 BARCLAYS Capital vice-chairman Gay Huey Evans has long been a trailblazer for women in the Square Mile, but she’ll be even more influential in her advocacy for greater female participation at the top echelons of the City in her new role as a “plural” board director. Huey Evans left BarCap yesterday after a long and [...]
Punch plans a review as its earnings sink October 12, 2010 Drinkers staying at home, higher taxes and the smoking ban in pubs hit profits at Punch Taverns, prompting Britain’s biggest pub group to yesterday announce an overhaul of the business. Punch said pre-tax profits in the 52 weeks to 21 August slipped to £131m from £160m a year ago as spending cuts and tax rises [...]
Irish drinks firm uncorks healthy profit October 12, 2010 IRISH drinks firm C&C Group is hoping to make fresh acquisitions after posting higher first-half operating profit and the first rise in UK sales of Magners cider since 2007. C&C, which acquired Gaymers cider and Scotland’s most popular lager, Tennent’s, in separate deals in the last 14 months, said its strong balance sheet would help [...]
HOW DO YOU RATE THE RESULTS? October 12, 2010 PAUL HICKMAN | KBC PEEL HUNT They set the scene for a clearer identification of equity value in the managed pubs and group cash, while the necessary restructuring of securitisations around tenanted pubs may take its course without prejudice to the equity. SIMON FRENCH | PANMURE GORDON Current trading is better than expected with improved [...]
Ocado to build new £210m warehouse October 12, 2010 OCADO yesterday announced it will build its second warehouse in North Warwickshire at a total cost of £210m. The firm says the new distribution hub for its online grocery delivery business will be operational by 2012. Ocado says the facility, which will create up to 2,000 jobs in the area, will allow it to expand [...]
Waitrose director:sales growth will continue for years October 12, 2010 UPMARKET grocer Waitrose expects annual sales to rise by a double-digit percentage for years to come, despite a tough economic backdrop, driven by new store openings, its managing director said yesterday. Mark Price, speaking at the annual conference of grocery industry body the Institute of Grocery Distribution, said conditions for consumers were likely to be [...]
Russia hoping to sell stake in VTB?for $3bn October 12, 2010 THE Russian government hopes to sell a 10 per cent stake in VTB, the country’s second biggest lender, for at least $3bn (£1.9bn) in late 2010 or early 2011, first deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said yesterday. The sale is set to kick-off Russia’s biggest privatisation campaign since the 1990s, with the government hoping to [...]
Ocado October 12, 2010 OCADO will hope the start of work on its new warehouse (or Customer Fulfilment Centre to use its irritating official title) will begin a new chapter after a torrid few months for its share price. Since its climbdown on the massively optimistic flotation price range of 200-275p (it eventually achieved just 180p), its stock has [...]
BUY ONE GET ONE FREE October 12, 2010 SPECIAL offers made up 37 per cent of goods by volume sold in supermarkets in September, according to research by Nielsen. The record high beats last year’s Christmas rush, when 34.5 per cent of goods were bought through special offers. Turnover at supermarkets grew 5.1 per cent in the quarter to 2 October.