Revolution Bars shares fall as firm serves up operating loss in full-year results October 2, 2018 Revolution Bars slipped to an operating loss in its full-year results due to exceptional costs caused by "factors outside the company's control". The update hit the company's shares in early trading, as they opened four per cent down in early trading. The figures For the year up to 30 June 2018, like-for-like sales fell 0.6 [...]
Lavazza fills its cup with a multi-million pound coffee deal for Mars Drinks October 1, 2018 Italian coffee maker Lavazza is set to buy the coffee arm of food giant Mars, Mars Drinks, in a deal potentially worth around $650m (£499m). The acquisition, expected to close in December, will see Lavazza take over Mars' tabletop Flavia machines and the Klix freestanding vending machine business. Mars Drinks employs 900 people and turned over approximately $350 [...]
Former House of Fraser directors dismissed amid calls for an investigation October 1, 2018 The former directors and senior management of House of Fraser have been dismissed following the department store's collapse. Sports Direct, which bought the beleaguered high street chain for £90m in August, announced that it has sacked the former top team amid calls for an investigation into the company's spiral into administration. Read more: Mike Ashley blames landlords [...]
Campbell Soup can serve you better, hedgie tells investors October 1, 2018 Billionaire investor Daniel Loeb is using his activist hedge fund to woo Campbell Soup shareholders, saying the “iconic asset” was an attractive prospect for takeover and claiming it could fetch $58 (£44.50) per share. Loeb’s Third Point fund is pushing to replace all the food company’s directors, who it said had presided over “tenure of [...]
Selfridges posts record operating profit as investment programme pays off October 1, 2018 A major revamp has helped Selfridges increase sales by 11.5 per cent year-on-year, as operating profits rose to a record £181m for its latest financial year. The department store is now in the final 12 months of its four-year £300m investment programme, transforming its London store and increasing its digital capabilities. Read more: Analysts warn of Debenhams [...]
Another top Unilever shareholder says it will vote against Dutch move October 1, 2018 Another top shareholder of consumer giant Unilever has said it will vote down the company's plans to relocate its headquarters to the Netherlands. Asset management firm Schroders joined a growing list of investors who have vowed to reject Unilever's plan. In September, Aviva said the same thing, while top 10 shareholder Legal & General Investment [...]
Aldi may drop prices to compete with Tesco’s new budget venture Jack’s October 1, 2018 Low-cost supermarket chain Aldi "will never be beaten on price", and could even drop them in response to Tesco's new low-cost venture Jack's, it said today. UK and Ireland chief executive Giles Hurley said Aldi welcomes competition from new players such as Jack's, adding: "If we need to reduce retail prices we will." Read more: Drastic Dave's no-frills move must [...]
Losses take a bite out of Deliveroo buzz but revenue soars amid global expansion October 1, 2018 Deliveroo’s pre-tax losses widened despite another year of booming sales in 2017, in a sign of the firm’s ambitions to bear the brunt of short-term losses for a greater slice of the UK’s increasingly competitive food delivery market. Losses before tax hit £184.7m in the 12 months of 2017, slumping from £129m the year before, with [...]
English National Opera defends bottled water ban after punters sneak vodka into shows October 1, 2018 Both are known for giving people headaches and have strong associations with Russia, but fans are now allegedly mixing opera and vodka – sneaking the latter into the former by “decanting” the party-friendly spirit into water bottles – according to the chief executive of the English National Opera (ENO). Stuart Murphy said some patrons were “decanting [...]
Too little too late – why the Debenhams rebrand is a frivolous deckchair rearrangement October 1, 2018 According to the press stories that announced a rebrand of Debenhams at the beginning of September, the objective of the exercise was to put “joy” back into the brand. Six days later, the company announced that it was calling in KPMG to help it restructure, which doesn’t sound too joyful. It’s quite farcical really. [...]