Pub groups’ stocks plummet as MPs side with tenants on tie-in system May 13, 2009 SHARES in pub groups nosedived yesterday after the commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee recommended the tenant tie-in system should be referred to the Competition Commission.The tie-in model prevents pub tenants from taking beer supplies from other companies. Shares in Enterprise Inns yesterday plummeted by 26.4 per cent, while Punch Taverns stock fell by 13 [...]
Trinity sheds a third of its ad revenues May 13, 2009 TRINITY Mirror said yesterday that group revenues fell 18 per cent in the first 17 weeks of the year, dragged down by ad sales falls of 30 per cent. The Daily Mirror publisher gave a cautious outlook for the full year – but said it expects the combination of cost savings, operating efficiencies and robust [...]
Trinity sheds a third of its ad revenues May 13, 2009 Trinity Mirror Group, led by chief executive Sly Bailey, gave a cautious outlook for the year but said it expects the advertising decline to ease.
Johnston warns on banking covenants May 13, 2009 SHARES in publisher Johnston Press sank 38 per cent yesterday after the group issued a profit warning and said there was a “strong likelihood” it would breach its banking covenants. Johnston said it was in discussion with its banks to refinance its £448m net debt after it had abandoned the sale of its Irish titles [...]
STRICTLY SPANGLES FOR LOVELLS LAWYERS May 13, 2009 ACTOR Tom Chambers had better watch out: he’s got competition, from the somewhat unlikely quarters of the lawyer gang at Lovells. I hear almost 300 of the firm’s staff packed the ballroom at the City Grange hotel on Wednesday last week for their own version of the Beeb’s hit show Strictly Come Dancing, raising over [...]
TAKING THE MICKEY May 13, 2009 Just a few weeks ago, enraged Panmure Gordon chief executive Tim Linacre told The Capitalist he’d rather see Mickey Mouse running the country as Prime Minister instead of Gordon Brown, after the government infuriated the City by raising the top tax band to 50 per cent. And yesterday, after Gary Keogh bagged his allocated five [...]
MELT DOWN May 13, 2009 Speaking of Gordon Brown, there’s got to come a point when you have to feel a bit sorry for the man. Not only has Opposition leader David Cameron put him to shame with a ruthless response to the MPs expenses scandal, but even puddings named after him are proving unpopular in the extreme. Searcys 40/30, [...]
Intel to contest record fine May 13, 2009 INTEL president and chief executive Paul Otellini said yesterday that the company will appeal against the record fine of €1.06bn (£1bn) that has been imposed by the European Commission for illegal rebates and other practices it used to squeeze out its rival, AMD. “Intel takes exception to this decision. We believe the decision is wrong and [...]
Loss for Land Securities as sales mooted May 13, 2009 LAND Securities, Britain’s largest property company, reported a record £4.77bn loss yesterday, signalling the extent to which the UK property market has imploded. The firm saw the value of its investment portfolio plummet by 34.2 per cent to £7.93bn, amid what the company described as “unprecedented” market conditions. Chief executive Francis Salway said: “This has [...]
PETRA BEATS DIAMOND INDUSTRY BLUES May 13, 2009 A MAGNIFICENT blue diamond from Aim-listed Petra Diamonds’ Cullinan mine broke records at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva on Tuesday evening when it was sold for $9.5m (£6.3m), bucking the industry’s recent woes. The 7.03 carat diamond fetched the highest price per carat for any gemstone ever sold at auction, as well as a record [...]