MGM’s troubles hurt Craig April 20, 2010 Financial difficulties at MGM studios, which is reported to have a $3.7bn (£2bn) debt, have led to fears over Daniel Craig’s future as James Bond after the latest film was put on hold. Fans are concerned that a long delay could lead Craig to walk away from the role before his third appearance makes it [...]
Tesco beats volcano with record profits April 20, 2010 TESCO yesterday reported record pre-tax profits of £3.2bn – while escaping the impact of the volcanic ash crisis because so little of its produce is imported by plane. The company saw its net profit up 10.4 per cent up on the previous 12 months. The supermarket giant said the reason for the gains included an [...]
Tesco April 20, 2010 THE LATE Jack Cohen, who founded Tesco in 1924, was fond of telling staff “you can’t do business sitting on your arse”. It’s a slogan that clearly resonates with the current management team, who show no sign of losing their expansionary zeal. Tesco has grown much further and faster than domestic rivals like J Sainsbury [...]
Primark and recovery boost AB Food outlook April 20, 2010 PRIMARK owner Associated British Foods said the global recovery was underway, prompting it to predict a “very good” rise in annual earnings after beating forecasts with half-year profits up 20 per cent. The London-based food and retail group reported strong momentum in many of its businesses around the world and even Britain showed signs of [...]
Thorntons hit by poor Easter profit warning April 20, 2010 CHOCOLATE maker Thorntons issued a profit warning yesterday after bad winter weather and competition from supermarkets hit Easter sales, forcing it to give a cautious outlook for the year. Thorntons said it now expected to post a full-year pre-tax profit before exceptionals of around £7.5m against £8.9m forecast in a Thomson Reuters poll. In a [...]
UK fly ban criticised as an over-reaction April 20, 2010 LAST night’s decision by the authorities to re-open Britain’s airspace was yesterday criticised by the aviation industry and London Mayor Boris Johnson for being “too little, too late.” The six day suspension has left hundreds of thousands stranded and caused severe damage to the economy. British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, said he was pleased [...]
Grounded commercial flights create a boon for private jets April 20, 2010 A RAFT of private jet and helicopter companies have cashed in on the chaos generated by thousands of grounded commercial liners as they transported stranded business passengers to and from mainland Europe. Operators, including NetJets, Ocean Sky and Jet Aviation have seen the number of requests sky rocket as most of Europe continues to face [...]
Insurers lobby to avoid paying out to cover airline losses April 20, 2010 UNCERTAINTY over who will foot the losses generated by the flight restriction mounted yesterday as it remained unclear how insurance cover would be given to the airlines. Airlines impacted by the closure of airspace could have cover, according to Holman Fenwick Willan lawyer Paul Wordley, but only if they have business interruption triggers in their [...]
BAA loses up to £6m a day from airport closures April 20, 2010 AIRPORTS operator BAA yesterday said that the flight ban sparked by the volcanic ash cloud is costing it between £5m and £6m a day. The operator runs six airports in the UK, including Heathrow and Stansted but all have remained out of action since air traffic control group NATS closed British air space to commercial [...]
ICELAND’S VOLCANIC ASH COMES FULL CIRCLE April 20, 2010 YOU’RE not going to believe this, ladies and gentlemen, but that’s the beauty of pure irony. A little bird whispers in The Capitalist’s ear that the latest victim of the Icelandic volcano belching ash over Europe is none other than Malcolm Walker, who runs – you guessed it – frozen food supermarket chain Iceland. It [...]