Hot Chi Minh July 28, 2008 Foreign investment means tourism is coming to Vietnam’s capital, says Ben Griffiths Intoxicating Ho Chi Minh is the best place to experience the myriad changes taking place in Vietnam, a country on the fast-track to becoming one of the hottest spots in Asia. The downtown area encapsulates all the sights and sounds of Asia juxtaposed [...]
Branson’s boy unveils new look at the polo July 28, 2008 There’s no event quite like the polo to bring the royals, celebs and business bigshots together in droves, is there? After the 24th Cartier International Polo day at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park yesterday, guests flocked to the Chinawhite tent for Rock the Polo, the event’s afterparty, where they were treated to [...]
Profits surge at pizza chain July 22, 2008 Pizza chain Domino’s yesterday reported a 33 per cent rise in first-half profits, as cash-strapped customers save money by getting a takeaway instead of dining in a restaurant. The country’s largest pizza delivery firm said that pre-tax profit for the first half of the year was £10.9m, compared to £8.2m last year while sales at [...]
London bucks retailer gloom July 21, 2008 Central London retailers are defying the economic gloom, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium. Retail sales in June were 8.7 per cent higher than a year ago, although the rate of growth is weaker than in 2007 when an increase of 11 per cent was reported. Footfall was also higher than in June [...]
Ebay posts bumper earnings July 17, 2008 Online auctioneer eBay posted a 22 per cent rise in second-quarter net income to $460m (£230m) beating market forecasts and helped by further auction activity and a boosted sales from its PayPal secure payment unit. Revenue rose 20 per cent to $2.2bn. The company also said it bought back 19 million eBay shares worth $566m [...]
Mutuality stages a comeback as Co-op buys Somerfield for £1.56bn July 17, 2008 Three months ago Co-operative Group chief executive Peter Marks unveiled a bold three-year plan to double the group’s profits. The fortunes of the mutual store group were flagging, with 2007 profits down almost 50 per cent and the group offering little competition to the main supermarket chains. Yesterday, the first phase of Marks’ plan to [...]
City workers get creative with life drawing twenty-seven storeys up July 14, 2008 Timothy Barber joins Citigroup employees indulging their artistic sides It’s easy to forget the noise and melee of Canary Wharf’s evening rush hour when you’re standing in the light filled open space of the 27th floor of Citgroup’s headquarters. Down below, thousands of tired workers are flooding from their offices into the tube and DLR [...]
Sports Direct owner comes out fighting July 11, 2008 Mike Ashley, the boisterous billionaire owner of Sports Direct, yesterday pledged to become a “good guy on corporate governance” as the retailer saw its full-year profits halve as consumers tightened their spending. The retailer’s lack of transparency in failing to provide like-for-like sales in its quarterly results has been heavily criticised by City analysts. But [...]
Signet moves share listing to New York July 11, 2008 Jewellery giant Signet Group yesterday announced it would move its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange, as part of a raft of changes to focus its business on the American market. The jeweller, which owns the H Samuel and Ernest Jones chains in the UK, said it hoped to complete the move – [...]
Rose survives protest vote on double role July 10, 2008 Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose has kept his job after a planned shareholder revolt at the retailer’s annual meeting yesterday turned into no more than a whimper. Over 94 per cent of the grey-haired army that braved the rain to descend on the Royal Festival Hall on London’s South Bank yesterday afternoon to [...]