Doors close yet again at February 8, 2010 Beleaguered clothing retailer Ethel Austin has gone back into administration just two years after it found an eleventh-hour saviour. The 300-store firm looks set to finally close its doors after 76 years, with 3,700 jobs at risk. Its sister company, homeware chain Au Naturale, has also gone into administration. Ethel Austin was saved in 2008 [...]
RETAIL THERAPY February 8, 2010 PRADA, the Italian clothing group whose designs are loved by fashionistas the world over, said yesterday its profit for the year would exceed expectations due to a rise of 14 per cent in retail sales in the year to 31 January. The firm, which did not release detailed figures, made a net profit of €99m [...]
Audi posts robust January sales after strong demand from China February 8, 2010 VOLKSWAGEN’S premium unit Audi yesterday said it expects a strong first quarter after January sales rose by 39 per cent thanks to strong demand in China. The launch of the Q5 offroader and the A5 sportback is expected to continue driving growth, the German carmaker said. “With this successful start we’re on target to reach [...]
MCR February 8, 2010 Geoff Bouchier has been appointed administrator for Ethel Austin. He is a partner with MCR. He has led many of MCR’s major insolvency assignments, including a number of its high profile appointments within the financial services, travel and retail sectors. In recent months he has worked as joint administrator for high street retailer Borders and [...]
Property fund takes off February 8, 2010 First Property Group, the Aim-listed property firm led by chief executive Ben Habib, launched a £106m commercial real estate fund yesterday. It is the first time the business has invested in the UK commercial property market since 2005. The fund will be called the UK Pension Property Portfolio, and will invest in well-let but higher [...]
MILLION-DOLLAR MAN THAIN LEARNS ERROR OF HIS PRICEY OFFICE WAYS February 8, 2010 HAPPY days for John Thain, the former Merrill Lynch chief executive who demonstrated yesterday that not only has he managed to stage an impressive comeback on Wall Street, but has actually learnt a lesson on the way as well. Thain, of course, is best remembered among the financial community for the dual distinctions of having [...]
Montagu plans €2bn BSN float February 8, 2010 Private equity house Montagu has hired Morgan Stanley to plan a flotation of BSN Medical, which could value the German bandages maker at as much as €2bn (£1.75m). Montagu had put BSN up for sale 18 months ago, but was forced to abandon the auction in the wake of the financial crisis. There is also [...]
Exiled banker thrown $7.5m lifeline by CIT February 8, 2010 Ousted banker John Thain has been brought in from the cold with a new role as chairman and chief executive of US commercial lender CIT worth up to $7.5m (£4.8m) a year. The former Merrill Lynch boss, who oversaw the bank’s acquisition by Bank of America (BoA), will receive $500,000 in cash, $2.5m of restricted [...]
FIT FOR A KING February 8, 2010 IT’S HARD to say whether a picture of a City grandee has ever tickled The Capitalist quite as much as this gem, which shows Bank of England governor Mervyn King taking a ride on a dog sled at the G7 summit last week in the remote Arctic city of Iqaluit in Canada. Our Merv, kitted [...]
International Power jumps on deal talk February 8, 2010 Shares in International Power surged by more than five per cent yesterday following talk that French utility GDF Suez is mulling a revised offer for the power station owner, including a cash element, after talks over a possible asset tie-up collapsed in January. The stock later closed up two per cent at 320.6p during a [...]