McBride hit by raw price surge June 24, 2010 OWN-BRAND personal care products supplier McBride yesterday warned that its raw material costs are set to soar next year and that there would be an inevitable delay before the increase can be passed on to its customers. McBride, which counts supermarket groups Asda and Tesco among its UK clients, went some way towards soothing investors [...]
Dixons brand to be revived June 24, 2010 DSG International, which owns Currys and PC World said yesterday it would change its name back to Dixons as it returned to profit in the year to the end of May. Europe’s second largest electricals retailer reported profits of £112.7m – up from a loss the year before of £123.6m. Sales rose three per cent [...]
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 [...]