Shares in high street retailers cool on Next’s warm weather warning September 30, 2014 SHARES in the UK’s biggest clothing retailers slumped yesterday after industry bellwether Next warned it might have to cut its profit forecast if the warm weather continued. Next said third-quarter sales to date were up six per cent rather than the 10 per cent it had forecast as the mild September weather deterred shoppers from [...]
Endless Capital sells Kiddicare two months after £2m takeover September 30, 2014 ENDLESS Capital has sold Kiddicare to online retailer Worldstores just two months after buying the mother and baby products site for £2m from Morrisons. The turnaround specialist bought Kiddicare in July after Morrisons’ disastrous ownership of the site. The Yorkshire-based grocer bought Kiddicare in 2011 for £70m as part of its bid to build its [...]
Rupert’s girl to step down after big TV merger September 30, 2014 ELISABETH Murdoch is to walk out on the TV production empire she built when the planned merger between her Shine Group and two other companies – Endemol and Core Media – is completed. Rupert Murdoch’s 46-year-old daughter launched Shine in 2001 and has remained in charge over the last two years following its acquisition by [...]
Virgin urges Ofcom to probe cost of football September 30, 2014 Virgin Media yesterday slammed the soaring cost of Premier League football on TV, as it revealed it had urged broadcast regulator Ofcom to launch a competition investigation into pricing. “Significant consumer harm” had resulted from the skyrocketing cost of live Premier League TV rights, said Virgin Media. Costs jumped 70 per cent to £3bn at [...]
EBay takes Icahn’s advice to spin off PayPal as payment service sees revenues rocket 19pc September 30, 2014 ONLINE auction site eBay yesterday announced plans to spin off its PayPal business in the second half of 2015, saying that to fail to do so would be “less advantageous to each business strategically and competitively.” The separation will ensure that the independent companies are able to “capitalise on their respective growth opportunities in the rapidly [...]
$5m Sharethrough investment sees Sky target ad opportunity September 30, 2014 HUGE FTSE 100 media firm BSkyB revealed yesterday it had made a $5m (£3.1m) equity investment in Sharethrough, a San Francisco based online advertising technology company. The investment from BSkyB was part of a round of fundraising that raised $10m for Sharethrough, which provides native advertising services, that match ad campaigns to web pages. As [...]
So have they taken their eye off the ball? September 30, 2014 BSkyB has built a strong position in the UK media market to become the largest pay-TV provider in the country with 10.5m subscribers. Football is at the heart of its empire, but recent investments suggest it may be looking more at expanding its other divisions. Football has been key to BSkyB’s growth since its founding [...]
Hamleys meets its Middle Eastern match September 30, 2014 Hamleys of Regent Street is facing a threat to its position as London’s leading toy shop – after more than 130 years – from a wealthy Middle Eastern rival. The Toy Store is to open a huge 27,000 sq ft shop on Oxford Street in the West One shopping centre next to Bond Street tube [...]
RBS chief vows: Empire building is now finished September 30, 2014 RBS SHARES jumped yesterday as the bank revealed its bad loan levels had fallen by around £800m, as its new strategy of focusing on the UK alone has started to pay off. The bank has sold off or shut down its overseas ventures, most recently selling a chunk of its US bank Citizens. As a result, the [...]
Co-op Bank takes to ink in bid to win back consumers with tattoo ethics vow September 30, 2014 The Co-op Bank is launching a new series of adverts aimed at rebuilding its brand as an ethical lender, starting on TV tonight. Its reputation took a blow last year when it was bailed out by hedge fund investors. The Co-op Bank is thought to have been one of the losers of the seven-day current [...]