Rising university applications set to boost student housing rents October 28, 2013 STUDENT housing rents in London are set to rise by three per cent over the next 12 months because of the rising number students enrolling to universities and the lack of available rooms to rent in the capital. Knight Frank said London rents – up 1.73 per cent this academic year compared with last year [...]
Earlier holidays slow US arm of Intercontinental October 28, 2013 INTERCONTINENTAL Hotels Group (IHG) said yesterday that its key American business suffered a slowdown in trading in September, blaming the earlier timing of certain holidays. The company, which issued an update for the US and Americas region to coincide with its hotel owners’ conference, reported a 3.5 per cent rise in US revenue per available [...]
Analyst Views: Has IHG’s update altered your outlook ahead of next week’s results? October 28, 2013 TIM BARRETT | NOMURAAhead of the full third quarter figures next week, IHG has reported 3.7 per cent growth in the third quarter for the Americas region versus our forecast of 4.7 per cent….This is a small deceleration versus 4.6 per cent in the second quarter. The underperformance was largely in Holiday Inn. WYN ELLIS [...]
Profits rise for Burger King as costs drop 90pc October 28, 2013 BURGER King Worldwide, known for its Whopper hamburgers, yesterday said it plans to introduce fewer seasonal and limited-time menu items in a bid to help restaurant operators improve profits and speed up service. Burger King, which reported a better-than expected third-quarter profit, has recently added a string of attention-getting products ranging from bacon sundaes and [...]
Merck suffers slump in sales of diabetes drug and animal feed October 28, 2013 MERCK reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings yesterday thanks to cost cutting, but lower sales of its Januvia diabetes treatment added fresh evidence that its biggest product has been losing ground to newer drugs. Moreover, sales of Merck’s animal health products, which typically prop up results, fell two per cent in the third quarter, hurt by the [...]
Liberty global sells international unit October 28, 2013 AMC, the US cable network behind hit TV dramas The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad, has bought Liberty Global’s international content division Chellomedia for $1.04bn (£640m). Chellomedia operates 68 channels which are distributed to 390m households in 138 countries. The division generated $450m in revenue during the year to 30 June.
Investors back Daisy’s purchase October 28, 2013 Daisy Group, a supplier of business broadband and data services, yesterday bought Indecs Computers, a technical maintenance and support services company, for £18m. Investors supported the purchase with an early four per cent boost to the company’s share price yesterday morning, Daisy Group closed up over five per cent.
Daily Mail extends property move October 28, 2013 Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) has bought Decision Insight Information Group (DIIG), a property search company, for £75m. It will join DMGT’s business information division, dmg information, adding to the group’s existing property businesses. DIIG had revenues of £69m and an operating profit of £6m for the year to 31 December 2012. DIIG is [...]
Gulfsands starts drilling in Morocco October 28, 2013 Aim-listed oil and gas producer Gulfsands Petroleum yesterday said that it has started drilling in Northern Morocco. The new well is the first of nine wells to be drilled in the Rharb Centre Permit area and drilling operations are expected to be completed within 28 days.
LV= expects motor insurance prices to rise in the new year October 28, 2013 INSURER LV= yesterday said it expects the cost of motor insurance to rise next year because new laws designed to reduce spurious claims have not had the desired effect. Mike Rogers, chief executive of the mutual, said some rivals had “over anticipated” the impact of the rules and cut car insurance premiums too much. “Looking towards [...]