Greggs issues warning over wheat price surge August 10, 2010 HIGH street bakery Greggs yesterday warned that customers could be facing price rises as a result of the soaring cost of wheat. The company said the price of its bread and other items would be put under review if the wheat price did not come down from its current level of £158 a tonne. However, [...]
Jaguar drives on Tata profit August 10, 2010 INDIA’S Tata Motors swept past forecasts with a fourth straight quarterly profit yesterday, driven by demand for its luxury Jaguar and Land Rover brands. The company’s Jaguar and Land Rover unit, which Tata bought from Ford in 2008, is expected to fuel growth in coming quarters as demand for luxury brands increases, particularly in emerging [...]
Union attacks longer hours plan at HSBC August 10, 2010 HSBC HAS come under fire from its clerical union over claims it will downgrade the contracts of thousands of its branch managers. Unite has written to the bank following an announcement yesterday that it wishes to change the working week of managers from five days to a six day week. HSBC will also reduce management [...]
Danske Bank cuts losses on loans by half August 10, 2010 DENMARK’S Danske Bank swung to a pre-tax profit last quarter after almost halving loan losses. The owner of National Irish Bank and Northern Bank posted a pre-tax profit of DK937m (£104.5m) for the second quarter, after a DK828m net loss a year earlier. “Difficult, albeit gradually improving, macroeconomic conditions in several of the group’s markets [...]
EADS CHIEF SURVIVES ALASKA PLANE CRASH August 10, 2010 SEAN O’Keefe, the North American chief of Airbus maker EADS, has survived the plane crash that killed former US senator Ted Stevens, the company said in a statement yesterday. O’Keefe’s son Kevin was also one of the four survivors of the crash in Alaska, in which five people died. The group were on a fishing [...]
Return of business traveller helps IHG August 10, 2010 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels (IHG) – the world’s biggest hotelier – has heralded a recovery in the hotel market, helped by the return of the business traveller, as it beat forecasts with a 22 per cent rise in first-half profits. The company, which runs more than 650,000 rooms in over 4,500 hotels worldwide, posted an operating profit [...]
Luxury car sales fuel Pendragon rise August 10, 2010 LUXURY cars are leading a recovery in forecourt sales, according to Pendragon, owner of the Jaguar, Maserati and Mercedes-Benz specialist Stratstone chain. Pendragon saw a 48 per cent rise in first-half profit to £15.7m. Stratstone outperformed the market with a 20 per cent rise in new car sales, while total revenues jumped 24.1 per cent [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR IHG AND THE HOTEL SECTOR AS BUDGET CUTS BITE? August 10, 2010 KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN Sales momentum has continued to build, with the results broadly reflecting global economic trends. China and Asia are leading the way, whilst the recovery in the financial sector is aiding important destinations such as New York and London. SAM HART | CHARLES STANLEY Long term prospects for the group remain [...]
Anglo Irish is set for fresh state bailout August 10, 2010 Anglo Irish Bank won temporary clearance from the EU yesterday for a fresh bailout of up to €10bn (£8.3bn) from the Irish government, more than expected and putting further pressure on Ireland’s bulging budget deficit. Ireland’s finance ministry said underlying budget trends remained in line with its targets but it acknowledged that an aid package [...]
Unilever CEO raises stake as shares fall August 10, 2010 UNILEVER chief executive Paul Polman has increased his stake in the Anglo-Dutch consumer product firm, taking advantage of a heavy fall in the price of the shares last week. Polman has spent over €900,000 (£748,000) buying Unilever’s Amsterdam-listed shares since Friday, bringing his stake up to 84,471 shares, according to Dutch securities regulator AFM. He [...]