Halfords share price rises as revenue exceeds £1bn June 5, 2015 The figures Halfords recorded revenue in excess of £1bn in the year to the end of March thanks to strong sales in both its car and cycle businesses, triggering a two per cent rise in its share price in early trading. Read more: Halfords share price plunges as chief executive Matt Davies poached by Tesco The [...]
Lloyds Banking Group fined £117m for PPI failings by the FCA June 5, 2015 Lloyds has been fined £117m over its handling of Payment Protection Insurance claims – the largest ever handed out by the FCA in relation to PPI. "Whilst our intentions were right, we made mistakes in our handling of some PPI complaints," admitted Lloyds chief Antonio Horta-Osorio. The taxpayer-owned bank was found to have failed in [...]
Rakuten share price slumps again as $1.5bn share sale announced June 5, 2015 Shares in Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten slumped for a second day on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after the company revealed a $1.5bn (£9.8m) share sale. Read more: Japans's ecommerce giant drives global rollout On Thursday Rakuten's share price tumbled over six per cent to its lowest level in two months following the announcement of the public [...]
Odey Asset Management invites rivals to gatecrash Playtech’s takeover of Plus500 June 4, 2015 Plus500’s top shareholder Odey Asset Management yesterday rebuked a £460m deal for the company from Teddy Sagi’s Playtech and said it would welcome offers from rival bidders. Odey, which was founded by hedge fund investor Crispin Odey, has amassed a 25 per cent stake in the troubled spreadbetting company alongside JP Morgan, which owns [...]
Merger for UK music startups Songkick and Crowdsurge June 4, 2015 Two UK-based music platforms said they were teaming up yesterday, as concert app Songkick and ticket sales website Crowdsurge announced a 50/50 merger. In an announcement on its website, Songkick said that the combined company would keep the name Songkick and become the “largest artist-ticketing service in the world.” According to Songkick, the company aims [...]
Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe misses out on payday perks June 4, 2015 Sainsbury’s chief executive Mike Coupe missed out on an annual bonus last year after the supermarket chain failed to meet sales and profit targets. The retailer’s annual report published yesterday revealed that Coupe’s annual pay package dropped to £1.5m in the year to March, down from £2m the previous year, when he was still commercial [...]
Pets at Home is keeping pooches happy as it posts surge in profits June 4, 2015 Pets at Home yesterday posted a record set of full-year results and said it enjoyed a strong start to the year as owners splashed out more on grooming services and special nutrition products for their pets. Underlying core earnings for the year to 26 March rose 10 per cent to £121m, in line with expectations, [...]
Investors revolt over Morrisons’ ex-chief Dalton Philips’s pay June 4, 2015 Morrisons’ new management pledged to review its pay policies after the supermarket faced a shareholder revolt yesterday over the size of the bonus awarded to its ousted chief executive Dalton Philips. More than a third of shareholders (35.6 per cent) rejected the retailer’s remuneration report, according to proxy voting results revealed at its annual [...]
Smith & Nephew share price tilts south as medical giant pulls hip device June 4, 2015 Medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew was forced to announce its plans to withdraw one of its hip-replacement systems as it required too many post-operative follow-ups. The 46mm model in question will be withdrawn from its Birmingham Hip Resurfacing system due to concerns it does not meet the standards set by health watchdog, Nice. [...]
Competition probe into Greene King’s Spirit Pub takeover moves on to consultation stage June 4, 2015 Greene King’s proposals to the Competition Market Authority (CMA) regarding its acquisition of the Spirit Pub Company reached consultation stage yesterday. The consultation comes after the regulator raised concerns about the £774m merger shortly after it was announced in May. At the time the authority said the current proposal would “substantially” lessen competition in the [...]