AT A GLANCE March 31, 2010 Virgin Trains Only two trains per hour between London Euston and Birmingham New Street will run, and another two trains between London Euston and Manchester Picadilly. www.virgintrains.co.uk South West Trains Two trains per hour between London Waterloo and Basingstoke. Between London Waterloo and Guildford, only one train an hour will run. www.southwesttrains.co.uk Southeastern Two trains [...]
Relief as Bank of Ireland taps private cash March 31, 2010 BANK of Ireland will raise from private sources much of the €2.7bn (£2.4bn) it needs, potentially becoming the only member of Ireland’s “bad bank” scheme to escape a fresh bailout. The bank said it was in fundraising talks with investment banks, a welcome relief for the Irish government, which faces years of scrimping to plug [...]
Topps Tiles sees revenues dip March 31, 2010 BRITISH retailer Topps Tiles posted a second-quarter fall in underlying sales, blaming a dip in confidence as the general election nears and consumers brace themselves for tax rises and job cuts. “If I cast my mind back to previous elections, they’ve never done us any favours that’s for sure,” Matt Williams, chief executive of the [...]
British Land secures 465,000 square feet of London lettings as market turns March 31, 2010 RECESSION-HIT London remains a magnet for office occupiers, property company British Land showed yesterday, after announcing 465,000 square feet of new lettings since February, hiking its occupancy to 92 per cent. The real estate investment trust said it had let 117,000 square feet at its 10 Triton Street project in London’s West End to Aegis [...]
Anglo Irish Bank posts a record €12.7bn loss as state approves a fresh bailout March 31, 2010 NATIONALISED Anglo Irish Bank posted a €12.7bn loss for the 15 months to December, meeting expectations that it would report the largest loss in Irish corporate history. The bank said yesterday it had booked impairment charges of €15.1bn, of which two-thirds were on assets to be transferred to the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), Ireland’s [...]
Hoodless investors give go-ahead to Astaire deal March 31, 2010 ASTAIRE, the fast-growing City stockbroker led by small-cap broking veteran Edward Vandyk, has virtually sealed its takeover offer for Hoodless Brennan after the majority of shareholders gave the deal the stamp of approval. Astaire has received acceptances from investors representing just over 80 per cent of Hoodless shares, with the offer set to close in [...]
DAIRY CREST MILKS IT March 31, 2010 DAIRY Crest said its full-year pretax profit was ahead of the prior year, helped by investment in its brands and cost cuts, and it was comfortable with market forecasts for the year. The company said it reduced its borrowings by £140m, or nearly 30 per cent, over the past 18 months. The company, who uses [...]
Swiss to hand over UBS data March 31, 2010 The Swiss government said yesterday it would continue to process information on US client accounts from UBS in the run-up to a parliamentary vote on a deal to end a high-profile US legal case against the bank. The government wants parliament to override a Swiss court decision that prevents it from honouring an agreement struck [...]
United Utilities signs £30m deal March 31, 2010 United Utilities yesterday signed a £30m, five year deal with Cable & Wireless Worldwide to provide converged voice and data network services to its 300 UK sites including data centres, water works and two key contact centres.
Carluccio’s sees profits drop March 31, 2010 Restaurant group Carluccio’s has seen profits before tax for 2009 drop to £4.7m from £5.6m, after the company faced a challenging year. Revenue climbed by eight per cent to £69m from £64m it posted the year before. During the year Carluccio’s opened 44 new stores across the UK, up from the 38 stores it opened [...]