Ted Baker’s autumn range is a hit as it continues overseas push November 14, 2013 TED BAKER shares surged over five per cent yesterday after the fashion retailer revealed that group sales leapt by 24.4 per cent to £77m in the third quarter of the year. The company said all channels were flourishing, with retail sales up 19.8 per cent to £58.1m in the 13 weeks to 9 November, driven [...]
Great Portland lifted by return in confidence November 14, 2013 WEST End property developer Great Portland Estates posted a 9.2 per cent leap in first-half net asset value and said it expected the strengthening economy to support the capital’s property market as more companies find confidence to move. The company, which owns offices and shops in central London, said diluted net asset value per share [...]
Charles Stanley buys Tory MP’s firm to boost funds offering November 14, 2013 INVESTMENT firm Charles Stanley yesterday said it had agreed to buy fund manager Evercore Pan-Asset Capital Management, the business co-founded by Tory MP John Redwood. The company, which offers broking services to investors, has bought the outfit as part of its push into the intermediary space. Evercore offers investors so-called passive investment funds – which [...]
Perform in £4m profit downgrade November 14, 2013 Sports media group Perform saw its share price fall 14.8 per cent yesterday after it warned that full year earnings would be around £4m lower than expected. The earnings downgrade was due to a poor second half performance from its technology and production arm. Perform, which boasts billionaire Len Blavatnik as its biggest shareholder, also [...]
Cisco stock dips on sales warning November 14, 2013 Cisco Systems’ shares fell over 11 per cent yesterday after the network equipment maker forecast a steep drop in revenue for the current quarter, prompting at least 17 brokerages to cut price targets on its stock and two to downgrade their ratings. Cisco said on Wednesday it expected an eight to 10 per cent drop [...]
Spain’s bad bank offloads loans November 14, 2013 Spain’s so-called bad bank, which was set up to cleanse ailing banks of soured loans, has sold two portfolios of loans worth a total of €323m (£270m) to Deutsche Bank, the third sale of its kind. The government-backed vehicle, known by its Spanish acronym Sareb, put at least seven portfolios on the market in recent [...]
Lockheed Martin cuts US jobs November 14, 2013 Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defence contractor, said last night that it plans to slash 4,000 jobs and shutter plants in several American states to reduce costs in the face of declining US military spending. The weapons-maker will close the affected facilities by mid-2015 to achieve job cuts that amount to more than three per [...]
Ophir surges on sale of stake in Tanzanian asset November 14, 2013 AFRICA-FOCUSED oil explorer Ophir Energy’s share price soared over 16 per cent yesterday morning, after the FTSE 250 firm agreed to sell half its stake in a Tanzanian project for $1.29bn (£800m). The firm, which is backed by billionaire Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, sold a 20 per cent interest in three offshore Tanzanian liquefied [...]
Warm weather helps can firm Rexam despite tough economy November 14, 2013 DRINKS can maker Rexam said yesterday that third-quarter global beverage cans volume rose three per cent, helped by a hot summer in western Europe, but the gain was partially offset by weakness in Russia, Egypt and Turkey. Rexam, which counts Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Red Bull and Heineken among its customers, said it sees challenges in Europe, [...]
WS Atkins half-year profits rise 8.2 per cent on growth at home November 14, 2013 ENGINEERING consultancy WS Atkins yesterday posted an 8.2 per cent rise in underlying pre-tax profits for the first half of the year and a 12.2 per cent increase in revenue, boosted by a strong performance in the UK. The FTSE 250-listed firm has increased its dividend by five per cent and said its full-year outlook [...]