Argos owner Home Retail Group hits back at claims it could be the next Comet October 21, 2015 Home Retail Group’s boss hit back at claims that Argos was at risk of becoming the next Comet, the collapsed electronics chain, after a profit warning sent shares crashing yesterday. The FTSE 250 retailer, which also owns Homebase, said investment in its new same day delivery service, weak sales of electrical goods, and uncertainty around [...]
UK Oil and Gas share price dips, despite report backing up Weald Basin oil find claims October 21, 2015 A US-based oil specialist today released another report adding weight to claims by British explorer UK Oil and Gas (Ukog) that there are billions of barrels of oil beneath the ground in the Southeast of England. Nutech said there could be as many as 15.7bn barrels across Ukog's eight licences in the Weald Basin. Of this, 3.9bn barrels are attributable [...]
Starbucks and Fiat EU tax ruling: Luxembourg and Netherlands no longer corporation tax sweethearts October 21, 2015 Starbucks and Fiat are in for a very large tax bill. €30m to be exact. Each. The EU has ruled that “sweetheart” tax deal arrangements between large corporations and individual countries amount to state aid and are therefore illegal. "All companies, big or small, multinational or not, should pay their fair share of tax,” said [...]
Coca-Cola gulps down quarterly decline in sales as emerging markets prove difficult October 21, 2015 The third quarter proved less than sweet for Coca-Cola, which has unveiled a five per cent decline in reported net revenue to $11.4bn (£7.4bn) during the three months to the beginning of October. The company, which has been grappling with a new-found desire among its traditional customers to stay healthy, as well as volatile currencies, [...]
EE’s Olaf Swantee: The BT merger is “good for Britain” October 21, 2015 EE is “very confident” that the £12.5bn deal with BT will be approved, as a competition watchdog’s decision on the takeover draws near. Olaf Swantee, the telecoms company’s chief executive, said to City A.M. that the merger would be “good for Britain”, following the company’s third quarter results posted on Wednesday: We’re excited about creating [...]
Arm Holdings share price jumps as revenues rise 24 per cent October 21, 2015 Arm Holdings, the UK chip designer – and one of the darlings of Cambridge's burgeoning tech scene – said pre-tax profits jumped almost a third in the three months to the end of September. The figures The company said revenues had risen 24 per cent to £243.1m in its third quarter, pushing profits before tax up 27 per cent to £128.4m. The [...]
Sky shakes off competition with profit rise despite Champions League loss October 21, 2015 Sky has shaken off rivals with a 10 per cent rise in profits while a 77 per cent surge in broadband subscribers was its biggest quarterly growth in four years. Operating profit across Sky Europe of £375m was slightly ahead of expectations for the three months to the end of September on revenue of £2.8bn, [...]
Telecoms customer complaints have risen 35pc since 2012 October 21, 2015 It might not come as a surprise, but there are plenty of unhappy telecoms customers – 15,542 of them have complained over the past nine months, a 35 per cent increase over the past three years. The Ombudsman Services will release figures today showing that there has been a five per cent increase from this [...]
City executives including Trinity Mirror’s Sly Bailey plan exchange for real estate October 21, 2015 A team of high-profile City executives is preparing to launch the world’s first exchange to trade shares in companies that own single commercial property assets, opening up commercial property investment opportunities to a wider range of investors. The venture, London Real Estate Exchange Limited, has been working on plans for months to allow the owners [...]
The nightmare before Christmas: Aldi and Lidl hammer Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco October 21, 2015 Britain's biggest supermarkets are facing a crunch Christmas as the pressure from German discounters Aldi and Lidl is ramped up, with experts warning of a bloody battle for this year’s festive season. The German duo have both seen growth rates return to over 17 per cent in the past three months, according to data from [...]