Marston’s upbeat as cask ale thrives May 20, 2010 BREWER and pub group Marston’s said it had returned to growth in revenues and profits at the half year – fulled by cask ale and food sales. The group, which makes ales including Pedigree and Hobgoblin, reported underlying profits up 0.4 per cent to £27.8m in the six months to 3 April. Sales in its [...]
Mothercare in dividend rise despite sales stalling May 20, 2010 MOTHERCARE posted flat profit for the year but raised its dividend 16 per cent and said it was well placed to drive growth going forward. The group, which trades from over 1,100 stores in 52 countries, said it made an underlying pre-tax profit of £37.2m for the year to 27 March. Group sales increased 5.9 [...]
Booker profit rises as it sets sights on India May 20, 2010 BOOKER Group beat forecasts with a 21 per cent rise in annual profit – boosted by higher customer numbers and tight cost control – and said it was stepping up expansion in India. Britain’s biggest cash-and-carry chain company, which runs over 170 branches supplying convenience stores, restaurants, pubs, schools and prisons, said its performance made [...]
Portmeirion in sales surge May 20, 2010 Pottery group Portmeirion said yesterday that sales for the first four months of the year are 40 per cent up on the same period in 2009. The company said the rise had been fuelled by sales of Spode and Royal Worcester. Those acquisitions – due to their timing – did not generate any revenue in [...]
Google sees Android success May 20, 2010 Google said more than 100,000 smartphones running on its Android mobile operating system are now activated daily and its library of applications has grown to 50,000, underscoring rapid adoption of the devices. The Internet search and advertising leader said yesterday that searches on its mobile Internet search engine have quintupled in just the past two [...]
FSA doles out a record fine May 20, 2010 THE FINANCIAL Services Authority yesterday doled out its largest ever individual market abuse fine to stockbroker Simon Eagle, branding him a “dishonest cheat”. Eagle was rapped to the tune of £2.8m for creating a scheme to artificially inflate the price of shares in Aim-listed Fundamental-E Investments (FEI). He has also been banned from ever working [...]
Shanks sees profits fall 33pc but hopes for strong recovery May 20, 2010 WASTE management company Shanks said its pre-tax profits fell by a third yesterday but predicted stronger revenue streams from government spending in the sector. The FTSE 250-listed group, which offers recycling, landfill and biological disposal services, saw its pre-tax earnings drop 33 per cent to £19.6m on flat sales of £684m. Shanks blamed the recession [...]
Boeing is confident for 2010 as plans aircraft services expansion May 20, 2010 BOEING said yesterday its 787 Dreamliner aircraft and other plane programmes would help drive growth as global air travel demand resurges and US defense spending growth slows. Boeing, the second-largest commercial plane maker behind EADS unit Airbus, also said yesterday that it planned to look overseas for opportunities to increase its defense business and would [...]
Dubai World mints deal on $24bn debts May 20, 2010 SMALL lenders to Dubai World could scupper the conglomerate’s plan to restructure its $23.5bn (£16bn) debt pile, which was provisionally signed off by its core creditors yesterday. A committee of seven key banks, including London-listed HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered, reached an agreement with the Dubai government-owned group “in principle” to defer [...]
MF Global rocked after fresh losses May 20, 2010 JON Corzine, the new chief executive of MF Global, said yesterday the futures and options broker would cut its workforce by up to 15 per cent after five straight quarters of losses. For the quarter ended 31 March, New York-based MF Global posted a net loss of $96.5m, compared with a loss of $119.3m a [...]