Flybe ranked as UK number one July 2, 2009 Europe’s largest regional airline Flybe will say today it carried more domestic passengers than any other airline. Overall, the Flybe brand carried 26 per cent of the total UK domestic passengers that flew during April, with its closest rival Easyjet landing behind with 23 per cent, figures from the CAA will show.
Oracle to cut 1,000 European jobs July 2, 2009 Oracle plans to lay off up to 1,000 workers in Europe, or about one per cent of its global staff, as the recession erodes the giant software compans earnings, it emerged yesterday. The world’s second biggest listed software maker would be one of the last major technology companies to undertake significant layoffs in this economic [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 2, 2009 WPP GROUPCitigroup has downgraded WPP to “sell” saying that a continuation on second quarter trends would suggest a 2009 full-year organic decline of 7.5 per cent and limited growth in 2010. The broker sees risk to the earnings and thinks that the first half results in August will be a negative catalyst, and lowers its [...]
Greene King sales boosted by sunshine July 2, 2009 BREWER and pub owner Greene King yesterday said warmer weather had boosted trading in the last eight weeks as drinkers flocked to sunny beer gardens. The group, which owns City pubs Golden Fleece and The Old Tea Warehouse, said like-for-like sales were up 5.2 per cent at Greene King’s managed pubs in the first eight [...]
Carphone in Vodafone tie-up July 2, 2009 CARPHONE Warehouse said yesterday it will offer contracts from Vodafone from next week in its 820 stores, three years after Vodafone pulled its mobile phone products from the retailer. Vodafone switched to an exclusive deal with Carphone rival Phones4U in 2006 in the hope it could pay lower sales commissions. The move knocked Carphone’s shares [...]
Game Group shares fall as trading gets worse July 2, 2009 COMPUTER games retailer Game Group yesterday posted an accelerating decline in sales, only partly offset by better profit margins, sending its shares as much as 11 per cent lower. The UK-based group, which trades from 1,367 stores, concessions and franchises in nine European countries and Australia, said like-for-like sales fell 15.4 per cent in the [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 2, 2009 FSSCThe Financial Services Skills Council has appointed Simon Ellis to lead an independent review of its future role and strategy. Ellis joins from Fidelity’s multi-manager business, where he was a managing director. He was also previously head of UK retail at AXA Investment Managers and was until recently a board director of the Investment Managers [...]
Dividends hit by recession July 2, 2009 THE NUMBER of companies reporting dividend increases to Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has fallen to its lowest ever level, the ratings agency said yesterday. S&P said a record low of 233 out of around 7,000 companies had reported a dividend increase in the second quarter of 2009, a 48.8 per cent drop from the same [...]
Lufthansa wants quick deal July 2, 2009 LUFTHANSA could still win quick European Union regulatory approval for its planned takeover of Austrian Airlines if it makes concessions within days, the European Commission said yesterday. Speed is crucial for the deal because the German carrier can walk away if it does not get a green light by 31 July — much earlier than [...]
Trinity Mirror to close nine of its Midlands titles July 2, 2009 DAILY Mirror owner Trinity Mirror said yesterday that it plans to close nine local newspapers in the Midlands, putting 120 jobs at risk. The firm said that it will close a clutch of weekly newspapers in the region, as well as two niche publications, the Earlsdon Blog and Farm Ad, resulting in the closure of [...]