Home Retail sales enjoy a sunshine lift June 11, 2009 HOME Retail Group yesterday brought some cheer to the market after its Homebase chain reported its first positive sales figures in two years. The DIY chain yesterday posted a 3.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 30 May, beating market expectations. Homebase said total sales, which include those from new [...]
BlackRock on verge of BGI deal June 11, 2009 MONEY manager BlackRock’s $13bn (£7.8bn) bid to take over Barclays Global Investors (BGI) could be wrapped up as early as today, with advisers working around the clock to put the final seal on the tie-up. The US firm will swallow BGI in a cash-plus-shares deal, giving Barclays a 20 per cent stake in what will [...]
IS IT SUNNY SIDE UP FOR HOME RETAIL? June 11, 2009 JOHN STEVENSON KBC PEEL HUNT“Home Retail Group’s first quarter trading update has seen a notable boost to seasonal lines as Homebase at last delivers like-for-like sales growth. Argos sales were also ahead of expectations, although margins remains under pressure. We note a strong performance in toys, no doubt benefiting from the demise of Woolworths, a [...]
Deripaska’s paper trouble June 11, 2009 Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska yesterday invited two government ministers to join the board of a troubled Russian paper mill he controls after he was reprimanded by the Prime Minister for his management of another plant. Deripaska also owned the loss-making Birmingham-based vanmaker LDV, which went into administration earlier this month after failing to find a [...]
De La Rue wins passport deal June 11, 2009 Banknote printer De La Rue has won preferred bidder status for a 10-year contract with the Home Office’s Identity and Passport Service to produce biometric passports in a deal worth £400m. The company already produces passports for more than 50 national governments around the world and also makes UK emergency travel documents.
Lord Jones warns on spending June 11, 2009 Former CBI director general and UK trade minister Lord Digby Jones yesterday called for “moral courage” in the UK public sector to remedy years of inefficiency in public service delivery, and to uphold the UK’s standing as a global economic leader and vital trading partner. He was speaking to the sixth annual Harvey Nash-sponsored business [...]
Pinsents warns of cuts June 11, 2009 PINSENT Masons, the UK legal giant, has joined the ranks of law firms cutting jobs by laying out a seven-point plan to staff which proposes part-time work, a pay freeze and redundancies. Managing partner David Ryan has told employees he has worked to avoid job cuts but “minimal” redundancies are going to be necessary. He [...]
The writing was always on the wall for Setanta June 11, 2009 YOU have to admire the sheer tenacity of Setanta’s founding pair, Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan. A lesser team would have let the floundering business die peacefully by now; these two are determined to keep it on life support until the bitter end. Yesterday, I spoke to several analysts to canvass opinion on the broadcaster’s [...]
London & Stamford Property in raising to snap up assets on cheap June 11, 2009 LONDON & Stamford Property, the vehicle launched to exploit Britain’s property bust, yesterday said it was planning to raise new equity to take advantage of the slump in prices. The Aim-listed firm said it is looking to raise an unspecified sum to bolster its remaining £90m of equity and £150m undrawn credit facility to bankroll [...]
Chinalco says Rio to blame for failed deal June 11, 2009 CHINESE metals conglomerate Chinalco yesterday said Rio Tinto was to blame for the failure of the pair’s mega-deal – not the Australian government. Australia had an “open and welcoming” attitude to its failed $19.5bn (£11.7bn) bid to invest in Rio Tinto, Chinalco President Xiong Weiping said yesterday. The deal collapsed last week because of factors [...]