The big freeze helps Halfords January 14, 2010 Bikes-to-car parts retailer Halfords yesterday said sales for the third quarter were up one per cent thanks to a seasonal lift from winter weather. The company said the rise had been fuelled by the sale of items associated with motoring on the cold snap – including new batteries. The group also saw strong growth in [...]
Thorntons has poor Xmas January 14, 2010 Chocolatier Thorntons has admitted that trade at its stores in the run-up to Christmas was disappointing – but claimed a move away from discounting had blurred the picture. Like-for-like sales at Thorntons fell by 4.4 per cent in the 14 weeks to 9 January. The company also suffered a 18.1 per cent decline in sales [...]
Snowy spell hits profits at clubbing firm Luminar January 14, 2010 NIGHTCLUB operator Luminar warned yesterday pre-tax profit for the year will be below expectations, blaming youth unemployment and the cold snap for compounding the effects of the recession on its business. Luminar said like-for-like sales in December were 13.8 per cent below last year, marginally worse than the 13.4 per cent fall it recorded in [...]
Restructuring plans put Travelzest back in black January 14, 2010 SPECIALIST tour operator Travelzest yesterday said its restructuring plans had improved profits, over a tumultuous year that saw it lose chief executive Chris Mottershead after wrongly suggesting he had misappropriated company funds. Travelzest said its pre-tax loss narrowed to just £0.042m from £3.59m last year, while it moved into the black on an operating profit [...]
2010 set to be difficult year for investors January 14, 2010 THE first six months of 2010 will be “incredibly bullish” but investment will tail off in the second half, according to new research by Williams De Broë. The portfolio management firm advises caution over emerging markets, fearing they are being artificially buoyed by foreign investment. Head of research Jim Wood-Smith said: “Our round-up is that [...]
Recovery in advertising industry isn’t here yet January 14, 2010 MECOM, the European newspaper firm led by former Mirror executive David Montgomery, yesterday said that the decline in its advertising revenues had started to slow. Ad sales in November and December were down just eight per cent, a major improvement on the 18 per cent fall in revenues over the entire year, and on the [...]
Misys aided by cost cutting as sales dip January 14, 2010 IT firm Misys met market expectations for first-half profit yesterday, helped by cost savings and growth in software maintenance, but said spending by its banking customers remained subdued. The company, which supplies software to banks and US doctors, posted adjusted operating profit of £62m, 11 per cent up on a year earlier, on revenue of [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS January 14, 2010 XSTRATA Investec Securities yesterday initiated coverage on what it called “the predator of the mining industry”. The broker put a “buy” recommendation on the stock, saying that looking beyond Xstrata’s M&A capabilities, the firm has excellent organic growth prospects and the best leverage of its peer group to rising commodity prices. BOVIS HOMES Panmure Gordon [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS January 14, 2010 Cazenove Capital The asset management firm has appointed Louis Greening as a desk-based UK advisory sales consultant. Greening joins from Skandia, where he has worked in the London-based sales team for the past two years. Prior to that, he was at Friends Provident. In his new role, he will be responsible for building new relationships [...]
Gunners can spoil the Coyle family reunion January 14, 2010 BOLTON WANDERERS vs ARSENAL SUNDAY – 4.00PM SKY SPORTS 1 OWEN Coyle couldn’t really ask for a more difficult first game in charge at the Reebok as Arsenal come to town hoping to close the gap on Chelsea and Manchester United. Bolton are currently in the relegation zone and the main reason for that is [...]