Kensington named UK’s priciest postcode to live May 17, 2010 THE KENSINGTON postcode W8 is officially the most expensive area to live in the UK, according to a “property rich list” released by real estate website Zoopla.co.uk. Average house prices in W8 soared 9.4 per cent over the past year, meaning the average property in the postcode will now set you back £1.55m. Only four [...]
Boots in £1bn profit haul May 17, 2010 ALLIANCE Boots yesterday posted an annual profit of more than £1bn – becoming only the third UK retailer to pass that milestone. The group, taken private in 2007 in Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout, also said there was strong growth in own-brand products like No7 cosmetics. Its international wholesale operations also helped in a tough consumer [...]
Carluccio’s on expansion trail May 17, 2010 ITALIAN restaurant and deli chain Carluccio’s yesterday said it had expanded into sites left empty by recession-hit rivals as it posted a profit rise. The restaurant saw its profits jump by eight per cent in the first-half to £2.7m. Director Simon Kossoff said: “Over the last 18 months a lot of our competition backed off [...]
Wiseman milking the profits May 17, 2010 ROBERT Wiseman Dairies has reported a jump in full-year pre-tax profits of 60 per cent to a record £49.2m. The firm said the results had been boosted by a rise in cream prices and a £1.9m cut in a fine imposed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Meanwhile, Alan Wiseman has announced he will [...]
H&M sees sales dip as growth streak stutters May 17, 2010 SWEDISH fashion chain Hennes & Mauritz yesterday reported a worse-than-expected six per cent fall in same store sales for April. The retailer, which specialises in fashionable clothes for customers on a budget, faced a tough comparison year on year. Total sales were up four per cent, compared with a 6.1 per cent rise predicted by [...]
Majestic Wine ready to toast healthy figures May 17, 2010 MAJESTIC wine said yesterday its profits for the year which ended in March would come in “at the upper end of analysts’ expectations”. The range for underlying profits forecast up until today had been as low as £15.9m to as much as £18m. That is a sharp recovery from the previous year’s £12.7m. After Christmas [...]
GM in its first quarterly profit for three years May 17, 2010 GENERAL Motors has reported its first quarterly profit in nearly three years. Cost-cutting and strong sales of new models helped it make $865m (£600m) in the first three months of 2010, it said yesterday. This compares with a $6bn loss in the same period a year earlier. GM, which filed for bankruptcy protection last year, [...]
Data suggests US recovery is slowing down May 17, 2010 THE pace of the US economic rebound may be slowing, manufacturing data and retailers results hinted yesterday, at the same time as concerns grow about the impact of Europe’s debt crisis on global growth. A gauge of manufacturing in New York State showed the sector continued to grow in May but at a slower pace, [...]
Exports boost UK’s factories May 17, 2010 MANUFACTURING data gave economists something to smile about yesterday as it emerged that UK factory orders delivered their strongest performance since mid-2008 in the month of May. The CBI’s monthly industrial trends survey showed that the total factory order book balance increased to –18 this month, up from –36 in April and beating expectations of [...]
European Central Bank moves swiftly to sterilise government bond buying May 17, 2010 THE European Central Bank yesterday laid out plans to sterilise its controversial government bond purchases, in a rapidly orchestrated move designed to quash fears the buy-ups will lead to a surge in inflation. The ECB also revealed €16.5bn (£14.1bn) worth of bond purchases had been settled by last Friday, giving markets their first true glimpse [...]