Intercontinental Hotels shares fall amid slowed revenue growth and $500m special dividend October 19, 2018 British multinational hotels giant Intercontinental Hotels Group said it intends to pay $500m (£383.6m) to shareholders through a special dividend, after revenue growth slowed in the third quarter. In a trading update published today, Intercontinental said global revenue per available room (revpar) rose one per cent in the third quarter and was flat in the US, [...]
Auto dealer Pendragon’s shares tumble on fresh profit warning October 19, 2018 Franchised car dealership Pendragon issued a profit warning to investors today, over fears a newly introduced global engine testing regulations will cause future market instability. Pendragon said in a trading update for its third quarter that it now expects its underlying profit before tax for the year to reach £50m, a drop of 17 per cent from [...]
Fizz rises to the top: Shake up at Coke as key executives replaced October 18, 2018 Coca-Cola yesterday announced major management changes a year after Brit James Quincey stepped up as chief executive. Brian Smith will become president and chief operating officer, filling the vacancy left when Quincey was promoted. Read more: Whitbread shareholders vote Coca-Cola's Costa merger through Smith is a 21-year veteran of the company and currently serves as [...]
Kleenex to ditch ‘mansize’ tissue brand over sexism fallout October 18, 2018 Kleenex is set to scrap its "Mansize" branding tag-line from its large tissue boxes, after customer outcries that the name was sexist weighed heavily on the company. The tissues will now be called "Extra Large", the company said on Twitter. However its parent company Kimberly-Clark said it did not itself believe the name endorsed gender [...]
Retail sales slide in September as analyst warns future is ‘highly uncertain’ October 18, 2018 Retail sales slipped last month as September recorded the largest decline in food store sales for three years. Sales declined 0.8 per cent compared to August, mainly due to a 1.5 per cent fall in food sales, which is the largest drop since October 2015. Read more: Footasylum records £4m loss as difficult retail environment hits [...]
New Look confirms China exit plans October 18, 2018 Fashion chain New Look confirmed today that it was planning on pulling the plug on its operation in China. The company said it has been gradually reducing its number of stores and now intends to close its remaining 120 stores in the country by the end of December 2018. Its Shanghai head office will close [...]
FTSE 100 bookie GVC places all bets on Europe in quarterly sales boost October 18, 2018 Sales at sports betting firm GVC were boosted in the third quarter as customers turned to online outfits in the midst of the football World Cup, but Brits themselves were not so convinced. GVC, which owns brands such as Gala, Ladbrokes and Coral, revealed today in a trading update for the three months to 30 September that [...]
Sales drop at Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo chains October 18, 2018 Rank Group’s latest sales have fallen almost five per cent year-on-year as it took a hit from high rollers ditching its casinos, it said in a trading update today. Takings at the company’s venues fell 6.1 per cent for the four weeks to mid-October, with its chain of Grosvenor Casinos seeing a drop in like-for-like [...]
Domino’s Pizza trims profit guidance despite UK sales growing in summer heatwave October 18, 2018 Domino's Pizza sales grew by six per cent year-on-year across the UK and Ireland this summer despite the hot weather, it revealed today, but the fast food brand also cut back its full year forecast for pre-tax profits. Online sales were up by 11.4 per cent – comprising 78 per cent of total sales in the period [...]
Hamleys replaces finance chief with House of Fraser executive after disappointing results October 17, 2018 Hamleys’ finance chief will be replaced by a former House of Fraser executive after the toymaker posted a massive drop in profits last week. Alex Jablonowski will step down with immediate effect according to an internal memo seen by City A.M. He will be replaced by a former House of Fraser executive, Yong Shen, who [...]