Kesa back in black despite tough market June 23, 2010 COMET owner Kesa has posted an 18 per cent rise in full-year profit as improved gross margins offset a decline in underlying sales growth. The electricals retailer, which also runs market leader Darty in France, made an underlying pre-tax profit of £81.9m for the year to 30 April. That was ahead of company guidance of [...]
Capital Pubs toasts boost from real ale June 23, 2010 CAPITAL Pub Company has seen a rise in profit – fuelled by real ale sales during the World Cup. The group – which has 28 pubs and has plans to own up to 50 within three years – yesterday reported a 32 per cent profit jump to £2.7m. Revenues rose by 11 per cent to [...]
Waitrose to acquire five stores in Channel Islands June 23, 2010 WAITROSE is buying five supermarkets in the Channel Islands. Local chain Sandpiper CI has sold the stores to the UK supermarket giant. The deal is subject to the approval of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority. It is not expected to complete before the end of October. It will include the three Checkers supermarkets in Jersey [...]
Wilkinson sees its profit soar as cost cuts deliver June 23, 2010 BUDGET chain Wilkinson has had another strong year with profits more than doubling in the year to 29 January. Pre-tax profits rose from £29.5m to £65m in the year. Like-for-like sales increased by two per cent. Turnover climbed seven per cent to £1.6bn. The retailer said it was “particularly pleased with progress on profit”. Operating [...]
Rank puts cost on tax rises June 23, 2010 Leisure group Rank yesterday became the first major public company to put a total on how much extra the emergency Budget would cost it. The Mecca bingo and Grosvenor casinos operator said the rise in the standard rate of VAT and changes to the National Insurance regime would result in a net cost increase of [...]
Sainsbury’s school uniform push June 23, 2010 Sainsbury’s has launched its biggest ever “Back to School” range in a bid to boost profit – giving mums 500 uniforms to “road test”. The latest range offers 12 Back Tu School products. Sainsbury’s is the eighth largest schoolwear retailer by volume, and has the fastest growing range on the high street with a 3.1 [...]
C4 scrapes a profit despite downturn June 23, 2010 Channel 4 survived the worst advertising downturn in its history to record a modest profit last year. The broadcaster offset a loss of more than £60m on its terrestrial station with swingeing cost cuts and strong advertising performance in its digital offerings to finish the year £300,000 in the black. The firm’s profit was significantly [...]
Polar Capital eyes Asia as fund flows pick up post-crisis June 23, 2010 POLAR Capital, the Aim-listed asset manager, is planning to launch strategies targeting Asia to capture some of the growing flow of clients’ cash into the region. Chief executive Tim Woolley said the firm would look to double the number of funds it runs to 12, and would hire two more teams this year, after largely [...]
iPHONE 4 ARRIVES IN THE UK June 23, 2010 APPLE ran out of white iPhone 4s yesterday on the eve of the launch of the hot-selling next-generation smartphone, the latest hiccup in the gadget’s global roll-out. The company moved 600,000 units of the $199 iPhone 4 in its first day of pre-sales in the US. The iPhone 4 goes on sale today in five [...]
Chip maker Imagination more than triples profits June 23, 2010 Graphics chip designer Imagination Technologies more than tripled its full-year pretax profit to £10.2m after it shipped 126m chips in smartphones, netbooks and set-top boxes. The company, whose designs are used by Apple and Intel – both shareholders – said yesterday its pipeline of licensing prospects, growth in design wins and momentum in chip volumes [...]