Burberry smashes sales forecasts January 18, 2010 BURBERRY sales soared by 12 per cent in the three months to the end of the year – well above forecasts. The company took £380m over the period as it stripped out unprofitable lines and kept a tighter control on stock. Wholesale revenue – which comes from department stores that stock the group’s trademark red, [...]
Carphone Warehouse in revenue boost January 18, 2010 CARPHONE Warehouse has upped its full-year forecasts for the second time in a matter of months after strong trading at both its retail and broadband arms during the third quarter. The FTSE 250 group, which is splitting into two businesses in March, says earnings per share to the end of March are likely to be [...]
Small caps are predicted to outperform again January 18, 2010 AFTER being decimated during the financial crisis of 2008, smaller cap companies enjoyed an outstanding 2009 according to RBS’s Hoare Govett Smaller Companies (HGSC) index. The index, which consists of the bottom tenth by value of listed UK equities not including the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), recorded an absolute performance of 54.2 per cent. This [...]
Optimism seeps back to the City’s financial services firms January 18, 2010 THE financial services industry in London showed signs of optimism in 2009, with 39 per cent of businesses claiming to be more optimistic about their prospects this year, compared to 23 per cent in 2008. An improvement in sales was one reason for cheer, with 94 per cent of respondents reporting either stable or increased [...]
BROKER WILLS & CO OPENS FIRE ON FSA’S REGULATORY CRACKDOWN January 18, 2010 WHEREAS most City firms are content to whinge ineffectually about the Financial Services Authority’s new heavy-handed approach to regulation, it seems that others are starting to put their money where their mouth is. Rumours have been busy swirling in the Square Mile over the regulatory status of private client stockbroker Wills & Co, which can [...]
Nightmare of Greek figures January 18, 2010 THE head of Europe’s statistics agency has had “sleepless nights” over Greek economic data and statistics for 2007 and 2008 debt and budget deficits are still not reliable, Eurostat’s director-general said yesterday. Speaking on Greek television, Walter Radermacher said he could not validate Greek figures, adding parts of Greece’s public sector, such as hospitals, were [...]
A sad day as Cadbury bites the dust January 18, 2010 IT is a great shame that Cadbury’s management has succumbed so easily to Kraft’s advances. Ever since I can remember, the British confectioner had been stalked by predators; yet for years it defied the doubters and refused to go the way of that other Quaker giant, Rowntree, snapped up by Nestle in 1988. Under the [...]
UK gives £20m to Haiti January 18, 2010 BRITAIN tripled its aid commitment to Haiti to £20m yesterday as rescue teams struggled to help remaining survivors of last week’s devastating earthquake. The humanitarian funds will go towards providing food and shelter to tens of thousands of people left without basic provisions after the disaster left capital Port-au-Prince in ruins. The EU pledged more [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 18, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES BUYOUTS AT 25-YEAR LOW DUE TO LACK OF CREDIT The number of private equity deals in the UK hit a 25-year low last year, as the credit crisis cut off the supply of cheap debt and dissuaded business owners from selling out. There were 117 private equity deals in 2009, fewer than half [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF January 18, 2010 Goldman recommends equities Investment banking supremo Goldman Sachs has advised clients to pile into equities. At its annual strategy conference, the bank said the world was on the brink of a major bull run as corporate profits are poised to jump sharply higher. Goldman said markets were in transition from a “hope phase” to a [...]