Eat it up: Chiquito owner’s share price sinks as it confirms £559m Wagamama takeover October 30, 2018 Frankie & Benny's owner The Restaurant Group (TRG) saw its shares crash by almost 18 per cent in early trading today, as it launched a takeover approach for Wagamama. TRG has agreed to buy the holding company behind the pan-Asian restaurant chain, Mabel Topco, for a cash sum of £357m, saying it represents an enterprise [...]
Sweet deal: Confectionery firm Mondelez beats profit estimates October 29, 2018 Food and beverage giant Mondelez reported earnings for its third quarter that performed above expectations late last night, despite falling revenue. The US-based owner of well-known brands such as Oreo, Toblerone and Belvita said it earned $1.2bn (£937.6m) in the three months to September, compared to $981m in the same period in 2017. Revenue fell [...]
Chiquito owner The Restaurant Group to bid £600m for Wagamama October 29, 2018 The Restaurant Group (TRG), which owns brands such as Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito and Garfunkel’s, is in advanced negotiations to acquire Asian fusion restaurant chain Wagamama for £600m. TRG is now the preferred bidder in the sales process, which was initiated in June by Goldman Sachs on behalf of Wagamama’s private equity backers Duke Street [...]
Online betting company duty to increase by six per cent October 29, 2018 The levy applied to online betting companies will increase to 21 per cent as fixed odd betting machine stakes are reduced to £2. The remote gaming duty applied to "online games of chance" will be upped by six per cent from October next year, Chancellor Philip Hammond confirmed in the Autumn Budget today. "From remote [...]
Beer and cider duty frozen for the next year to support pubs and patrons October 29, 2018 Beer and cider duty has been frozen for the next year to support British pubs. The Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the move during the his Budget speech and confirmed spirits duty would also frozen. He said it was “for the patrons of the great British pub”. But the duty on wine will increase with inflation [...]
Hammond confirms business rate relief for small firms as the high street faces pressure ‘as never before’ October 29, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond has confirmed his plans to inject £1.5bn into Britain’s high streets in today’s budget. In a new spending package aimed at boosting small town retailers and high street firms, Hammond has announced business rates relief for firms with a rateable value of less than £50,000 will be cut by a third. The [...]
Prosieben buys online dating site Eharmony October 29, 2018 German broadcaster Prosieben has acquired US online dating website Eharmony in the first major deal since it launched an e-commerce partnership with investment firm General Atlantic. The deal will complement Prosieben’s own dating site Parship Elite, which is the leading online matchmaking platform in Germany. Prosieben bought Eharmony through its Nucom division, which is 24.9 per cent [...]
Lok’nStore profits soar amid rising demand for storage units October 29, 2018 Self-storage manager Lok'nStore posted a surge in pre-tax profits during the last 12 months on the back of rising occupancy growth. Profits before tax rose from £4m to £5.3m in the year to the end of July, marking a 34 per cent rise compared with the previous year. Revenues jumped 6.6 per cent to £17.8m, [...]
Retailers, don’t blame poor sales on the weatherman October 29, 2018 In the longstanding narrative of the “death of the high street”, analysts point in all directions to identify the causes of changes in customer spend in any given period. And, in true British fashion, one problem that is given a lot of attention is the weather. The weather is somehow both the cause and the [...]
Floored: Victoria shares plummet 18 per cent as profit projections slip October 29, 2018 Flooring company group Victoria suffered an 18 per cent drop in its shares this morning after revealing that profit margins would be lower than market expectations. First-half revenue had risen “in a challenging market” by more than three per cent in the six months to the end of September when compared with the same period [...]