Arcadia paid BHS head office staff to “stem tide of resignations” October 11, 2016 Arcadia paid £2m to staff in BHS' head office to keep them from leaving as the business collapsed into administration. In a statement, ex-BHS Darren Topp said nearly 100 people resigned in four weeks from the end of March 2016, and the money from Arcadia was used to "stem the tide of resignations". Read more: Insolvency Service [...]
The Pensions Regulator is seeking more power to stop another BHS-style pensions crisis October 11, 2016 The Pensions Regulator (TPR) is seeking more powers to prevent another pensions crisis on the scale of BHS'. In evidence given to the Work and Pensions select committee, TPR has called for a mandatory clearance process for some corporate transactions, such as a company being sold when its pension scheme is underfunded, as was the [...]
Ted Baker’s share price rises as retailer hikes dividend and posts 21 per cent profit October 11, 2016 Retailer Ted Baker has shrugged off "challenging trading conditions" to hike its dividend and post robust double-digit profit growth in the first half of the year. The figures Revenue at the clothes and accessories maker rose by 14.4 per cent to £259.5m in the 28 weeks to 13 August, while profit before tax grew by 20.5 per cent [...]
Megabrew is done: AB InBev’s £79bn takeover of SABMiller completes October 11, 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev completed its tie-up with British drinks behemoth SABMiller last night, combining to form the world's biggest brewer in a £79bn merger. The new company, which will continue to trade under AB InBev's name, will have operations "in virtually every major beer market". AB InBev chief exec Carlos Brito said: As a truly global brewer, we [...]
Pure Gym avoids overstretch as it confirms it has pulled the plug on a £190m London IPO October 11, 2016 Pure Gym confirmed this morning it has abandoned plans to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO), citing concerns about a "challenging" and volatile market. The company, which is the UK's largest gym operator, announced it was planning a £190m share sale in mid-September. Pure Gym had planned to use the proceeds to repay its existing [...]
Summer sun and price cuts drive best quarter for food sales since 2013 October 11, 2016 The food sector has had its best quarter of sales in two years, according to new figures. Like-for-like sales across all retail categories increased 0.4 per cent year-on-year in September, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG. Read more: Rosé wine, gin and ice cream sales gave Waitrose a summer boost last [...]
Pure Gym gathers sufficient investor interest but pulls London listing October 10, 2016 Britain's largest gym chain will pull its planned London listing tomorrow after concerns from board members over challenging initial public offering market conditions. Pure Gym had planned a £190m share sale and it is understood that the company had gathered sufficient investor interest for the proposed listing. Read more: Pure Gym unveils plans to float on London [...]
Third quarter results reveal steady growth at Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton October 10, 2016 Luxury goods group Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton reported a positive first nine months of the year with sales of over €26bn. Like-for-like sales increased by five per cent in the first nine months compared with 2015 and all five of its divisions revealed solid single-digit growth. Read more: I'll drink to that: LVMH boss gets on board with wine app The Paris-based group [...]
Megabrew: Anheuser-Busch InBev and SABMiller tie-up due to close today October 10, 2016 The £79bn Megabrew merger between Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) and SABMiller is due to become effective this evening, closing one of the UK's largest ever corporate deals. The tie-up is due to come into effect at or around 7pm this evening (8pm Brussels time) and shares in the newly-merged company will list on Euronext Brussels, [...]
Retail lobby group British Retail Consortium urges government to protect consumers from rising costs post-Brexit October 10, 2016 The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has urged the government to secure a Brexit deal that avoids rocketing prices for consumers. Writing to Liam Fox, the secretary of state for international trade, the BRC said that the retail industry, as the UK's biggest importer, needs tariffs and import costs to remain low. Read more: Retailers in Mayfair [...]