H&M hit by summer slump June 24, 2010 H&M yesterday reported that it could be forced to reduce prices to offload spring stock after unseasonally cool weather hit sales. The Swedish fashion retailer said demand in April and May was unexpectedly weak despite reporting a 24 per cent profit rise in the third quarter. It added that “this could lead to a higher [...]
Specsavers founder gains recognition for her lifetime business achievements June 24, 2010 SPECSAVERS founder Dame Mary Perkins has been given a lifetime achievement award for her impact on the business world. The entrepreneur was recognised at the First Women Awards for her shrewd business sense and work ethic. Dame Mary, who started the business in her spare bedroom with husband Doug in 1984, was also credited for [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW IS DSG DOING VERSUS ITS COMPETITORS? June 24, 2010 PHILIP DORGAN | AMBRIAN We think that DSG will deliver decent sales growth and hence a strong UK & Ireland margin recovery. The risk reward ratio has moved in favour of DSG. HENRY DIXON | CHARLES STANLEY I think Kesa is a better bet than DSG when debt is taken into account. It has made [...]
The Capital Pub Company buys two new premises in £5m deal June 24, 2010 THE Capital Pub Company (CPC) yesterday agreed to acquire two premises from Tomahawk Pubs for £5.03m. The group has made a 120p per share offer for Tomahawk, slightly below the net asset value per share of the group. CPC will issue 2.8m shares at 103p per share to raise £2.8m and part fund the deal. [...]
Buffett ups his stake in Tesco to more than 3pc June 24, 2010 US investor Warren Buffett has raised his stake in British supermarket group Tesco to over three per cent, according to a regulatory statement published yesterday. Buffett’s investment firm, Berkshire Hathaway, has bought around two million shares in the world’s third biggest retailer to take its stake to 242m, or 3.02 per cent of the total. [...]
Global stocks to post good year poll finds June 24, 2010 The world’s major stock markets should trade higher a year from now but fears of a slowing economic recovery might permit only modest gains in some rich-world markets, a Reuters poll showed yesterday. Against expectations of previous quarterly Reuters polls, most stock markets from both the rich world and emerging markets are on course to [...]
Fabric lives on after firm is bought by private investors June 24, 2010 FABRIC nightclub will stay open after it was bought by private investors yesterday. The club’s Administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said Fabric 591, the company that owns the landmark venue, had been sold for an undisclosed sum to Fabric Life Limited, a company formed eight weeks ago by a group of supporters. It went into administration last [...]
Google wins piracy battle with Viacom June 24, 2010 Google won a landmark victory in the battle over pirated content yesterday after a US judge threw out a $1bn (£670m) lawsuit accusing the company of turning a blind eye to illegal videos on its YouTube service. The ruling against Viacom, which the firm has vowed to fight, will have far reaching implications for the [...]
Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook will float in the future June 24, 2010 THE world’s biggest social networking site will float at some point, according to its founder yesterday. However, he would not put a time-frame on the listing of the firm, which has been privately valued at over $1bn (£670m). He also said Facebook is poised to surpass 1bn users. The only major markets where the site [...]
Apple fans rush to buy first iPhone 4s June 24, 2010 APPLE fans queued for more than six hours to get their hands on the first batch of the firm’s new iPhone 4 yesterday. The iPhone fever was heightened by rumours the same supply issues that dogged the release of the iPad would strike Apple’s latest must-have gadget. But while supply was plentiful yesterday, early reports [...]