Asahi sales lift boosts Shepherd Neame’s profits October 7, 2010 DEMAND for trendy Asahi lager has helped to drive profit up by a quarter at Shepherd Neame. The company makes and sells Asahi Superdry under licence for the Japanese brewer and it has been selling well in cities, particularly London. Asahi volumes were up five per cent overall with draught sales rising more than a [...]
M&S profits up but warns over future October 7, 2010 MARKS & SPENCER said yesterday that its sales were rising but that “it is far from clear” what impact forthcoming government cuts would have on its customers. Like-for-like sales in the UK, which strip out the impact of sales from new stores, rose by 5.3 per cent in the three months to the beginning of [...]
Saturated sat nav market hits sales October 7, 2010 EVERY driver seems to own a sat nav these days. Sitting in night-time traffic is like being at a festival with everyone holding their lighters in the air, each car emitting an unearthly glow from the dashboard. Their popularity accounts for the scorching growth rate of sat nav makers in recent years, but their ubiquity [...]
Halfords pins hopes on promotions as sales are dented in tough market October 7, 2010 HALFORDS yesterday promised to launch new promotions after reporting a sharper drop in like-for-like sales over the past quarter. The group said fewer sat nav sales and a disappointing performance in cycles contributed to a 6.3 per cent fall like-for-like sales at its shops in the quarter to 1 October. There was a 4.5 per [...]
Rank sees a lift from gamblers October 7, 2010 BRITISH gaming firm Rank Group forecast its full-year performance would be around the top of analysts’ estimates after all its businesses improved during the third quarter. Analysts are expecting full-year pre-tax profit to range from £48m to £53m compared with £49m for 2009, Rank, owner of the Mecca bingo hall and Grosvenor casino chains, said [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: ARE THE GOOD TIMES BACK FOR M&S? October 7, 2010 FREDDIE GEORGE | SEYMOUR PIERCE We are reiterating our ‘buy’ recommendation on the stock. First, the trading update does indeed indicate that general merchandise now has real momentum … while M&S’s food sales have been recovering, benefiting from the introduction of a branded range. RICHARD HUNTER | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Management have again been careful to [...]
Bonuses for hedge fund IT staff jump October 7, 2010 Hedge fund IT staff have seen their bonuses double in the last year, according to new research. ReThink Recruitment says software developers with experience in algorithmic trading platforms – a form of automated high volume trading – can now expect 50 per cent bonuses, up from around 25 per cent last year. High-flying IT staff [...]
Carillion’s order book bulging October 7, 2010 support services firm Carillion said it has its largest ever pipeline of contract opportunities as UK local authorities look at outsourcing and it is on track to meet market expectations. The company said yesterday it was well positioned to take advantage of public service customers increasingly looking to outsource work to help them reduce costs [...]
DEO to resume trading on the AIM market following its first acquisition October 7, 2010 BRITISH oil explorer DEO Petroleum said last night it expects to start trading again on the Aim market this morning after agreeing a deal to buy a large stake in oil fields off the coast of Perth. DEO also announced a £16m share placing to fund its first ever acquisition, buy new exploration licences and [...]
Increased IPOs could herald market comeback October 7, 2010 AN increase in initial public offerings (IPO) on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in the last quarter may signal the start of a market recovery, research suggested yesterday, despite the summer months being a traditionally quieter period for listings. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said listings on Aim increased from 10 in the second quarter, worth a total [...]