Diageo: We will offload most of Whyte & MacKay November 25, 2013 DIAGEO has offered to sell most of Whyte & Mackay’s whisky assets to address competition concerns arising from its July acquisition of a controlling interest in India’s United Spirits. Diageo, the world’s biggest spirits maker, said yesterday that it would assist the Office of Fair Trading with its evaluation of the United Spirits deal and [...]
Average Christmas gadget spend set to rise November 25, 2013 PARENTS this Christmas are expected to spend £243 on electronic gifts for their kids on average, according to a report from price comparison website uSwitch. “For many this will mean that the pressure is on to juggle Christmas wish lists with household budgets,” said uSwitch.com telecoms expert Ernest Doku.
Thomas Cook sells Neilson to Luke Johnson November 25, 2013 LUKE Johnson, the serial restaurant entrepreneur best known for putting Pizza Express on the map, yesterday struck a deal to buy specialist sports travel group Neilson from Thomas Cook for £9.15m. The deal is Johnson’s second in the travel sector this year after his investment vehicle Risk Capital bought a majority stake in online holiday [...]
Switch on for UK’s new local TV network November 25, 2013 COMUX switched on its TV Network Operations Centre today, ahead of the launch of 18 new local TV channels this year and a further 28 next year. “Local businesses will also have access, in many locations for the first time, to an attractively-priced local TV advertising network,” said Local TV Network chair Nigel Dacre. Comux, [...]
Quintain lifted as shoppers hit Wembley outlet November 25, 2013 QUINTAIN said its new designer outlet village at Wembley has got off to a flying start with over 350,000 visitors since opening four weeks ago, as the developer reported a return to profit yesterday. Chief executive Max James, who took over from Quintain’s founder Adrian Wyatt 18 months ago, said: “We were taken aback by [...]
Fiat boss rules out flotation of Chrysler unit before end of 2013 November 25, 2013 ITALIAN car-maker Fiat said yesterday that a planned initial public offering (IPO) of its US unit Chrysler will not take place this year, prolonging the uncertainty over whether it can reach a deal to buy the stake in the group it does not already own. Yet late last night Chrysler amended its S1 filing with [...]
Swatch taps into Middle Eastern demand with stake in Rivoli November 25, 2013 GLOBAL watchmaker Swatch has taken control of Dubai’s Rivoli retail chain, the latest luxury group to take a closer interest in its emerging markets outlets in order to use local knowledge to manage its image and better profit from rapid regional growth Swatch Group yesterday raised its stake in the Dubai retail group to 58 [...]
Hammerson and Westfield plans for Whitgift Centre win approval November 25, 2013 PLANS for the £1bn redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre in Croydon were given the go-ahead by the council’s planning committee last night. Developers Westfield and Hammerson have been granted outline planning consent to convert the tired 1960s shopping centre into a 1.5m square feet retail and leisure destination with 600 new homes. The scheme, which [...]
Cranswick’s pork and bacon in demand as half-year profits rise November 25, 2013 PORK processor Cranswick posted a 16 per cent rise in pre-tax profits yesterday thanks to strong demand for its bacon and fresh pork. The FTSE 250 firm, which makes upmarket sausages, bacon, and cooked meats for supermarkets including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, reported pre-tax profits of £26.1m in the six months to 30 September, up from [...]
Analyst Views: What was your reaction to Cranswick’s half year trading performance? November 25, 2013 CLIVE BLACK SHORE CAPITAL Cranswick remains a company that we believe is best in class in British food manufacturing…With improved industry structures we believe that the future for Cranswick is bright…and we therefore continue to argue that the stock has a firm justification for a position in any high quality mid-cap fund. DAMIAN MCNEELA PANMURE [...]