Topps Tiles predicts upturn despite seeing profit dive in tough trading June 2, 2010 TOPPS Tiles yesterday posted a ten per cent fall in first-half adjusted pre-tax profit as consumers curbed spending amid the downturn and said it expected trading in the retail sector to remain tough. The company, which sells wood and tile flooring from 309 stores in Britain, said total revenue for the first seven weeks of [...]
Fitch: Ratings risk posed by Solvency II June 2, 2010 EUROPEAN insurers may struggle to keep their credit ratings under stringent new capital requirements proposed by Brussels, assessment house Fitch warned yesterday. Insurance companies are expected to be ordered to increase the amount of capital they hold against their liabilities under Solvency II, the European Commission’s regulatory regime due to be introduced in 2012. In [...]
UK firms’ foreign takeovers hit record low in first quarter June 2, 2010 THE number of foreign firms bought by British companies and the amount spent on them fell to their lowest level in more than 20 years in the first three months of 2010, official data showed yesterday. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said spending by UK firms on foreign acquisitions fell to £192m in the [...]
Fans’ bid for United looks doomed to fail June 2, 2010 THE highly anticipated “Red Knights” bid for Manchester United appears to have all but fizzled out after the wealthy group of investors admitted they will not meet the owners’ valuation of the club. The Red Knights have privately said a bid will not be imminent after it became clear they are not willing to match [...]
PwC is appointed as Fabric nightclub’s administrator June 2, 2010 PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS was yesterday appointed as administrator for London superclub Fabric. The dance-music venue will remain open while administrators seek a new buyer, but is no longer accepting credit cards. David Chubb and Colin Haig of PricewaterhouseCoopers will handle the account. They worked together on the administration of bridging loan firm Link Lending last month. Chubb [...]
ICG returns to full year profit June 2, 2010 BUYOUT lender Intermediate Capital Group returned to a full-year profit on capital gains and lower provisions at its investment arm and said it expects to make further progress. The mezzanine finance specialist’s new chief executive said it will reach its ambitious target to double assets under management both through acquisitions and organic growth, adding it [...]
BA strike drags on another day June 2, 2010 BRITISH Airways dragged through its fourth day of a five day strike yesterday, with negotiators still failing to find common ground. Arbitration body Acas said: “More talks took place in London yesterday between BA and Unite under the auspices of Acas with the assistance of the TUC. The talks were adjourned late last night and [...]
Isis gets £12m in Occam sale June 2, 2010 ISIS Equity Partners, the small-cap buyout house, is eyeing new investment opportunities after selling marketing software maker Occam to services company St Ives for £12m. Isis said it made between 1.5 and two times its investment of £4.1m on the sale of Occam, which it bought into through a management buyout in 2004. The company, [...]
Mezzanine funds in vogue during debt drought June 2, 2010 MIDDLE-market companies are facing a refinancing gap unprecedented in modern times as they struggle to raise much-needed capital for expansion. With banks currently unwilling to lend following the global financial crisis, companies and private equity firms are being forced to explore alternatives and mezzanine debt is shifting up the pecking order. This hybrid between debt [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS June 2, 2010 BDO The accountancy firm has appointed Tim Kirk as head of its advisory services practice, leading its offering in the risk, regulatory and management consulting areas. Prior to joining BDO, Kirk was managing director of The Kirk Consultancy, a specialist marketing and customer experience consultancy serving FTSE 100 and global companies. Prior to that, he [...]