JD sports sees profit more than double September 18, 2013 Sports retailer JD sports has reported profit before tax up 111 per cent for the 26 week period to 3 August, at £6.087m from 2.879m in the same period of 2012. (Release) Like for like sales in the UK and Ireland were up 7.5 per cent. Basic earnings per ordinary share were at 10.19p – [...]
MC Saatchi reports positive results for first half of 2013 September 18, 2013 Advertising agency M&C Saatchi announced strong results for the year up to June with a profit rise of 6 per cent to £9.3m. (Release) Revenue was up 5 per cent at £87.1m with UK revenue up 8 per cent and like-for-like European revenues up 21 per cent. The interim dividend increased by 10 per cent [...]
Engineer Smiths Group continues to move away from government clients to commercial customers September 18, 2013 Engineering company Smiths Group has seen profits flatten in the year ended 31 July from the same period last year. Pre-tax profits are up just slightly from £497m To £498m (release). Revenue growth is also weak at the company, up just two per cent to £3,109m. The company has taken a knock from lower margins [...]
Iron pellet producer Ferrexpo takes £50m stake in Ferrous Resources September 18, 2013 FTSE 250 listed iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo has announced that it's taken a 14.4 per cent stake in Ferrous Resources (release). Total consideration for the stake, which was acquired between January and September 2013, was approximately US$80 million. Ferrous is an iron ore company, based in the iron ore quadrangle of the Minas Gerais [...]
More houses for developer Redrow September 18, 2013 British house builder Redrow has announced plans to reinstate a dividend following successful results for the first half of 2013. (Release) In the year to June, pretax profit was up 63 per cent to £70m with group revenue increasing 26 per cent to £604.8m. As a result of improved figures, Redrow's board has proposed reinstating [...]
Before the open: Markets await Fed decision on tapering September 18, 2013 The Nikkei closed up as today's Federal Open Markets Committee keeps markets waiting this morning. Fed officials have stressed that some form of tapering could happen by the end of the year if data from the third quarter supports it. Market consensus seems to be in the region of $10bn to $15bn taper of [...]
Any other business – 18/09 September 18, 2013 Spread betting firm Spreadex hosted its annual golf day last week, and The Capitalist hears that it ended up being a knockout event in more ways than one. Traders from the spread betting company were entertaining clients at a prestigious golf club in Surrey, but the day didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned. The [...]
Osborne in denial over housing bubble September 17, 2013 London house prices are up 10pc in a year. So why does the chancellor say there’s no bubble? CHANCELLOR George Osborne has rejected suggestions that his policies are creating a housing bubble, even as new evidence emerges that prices are soaring in London. In an interview yesterday, Osborne said: “I don’t see the evidence of [...]
Treasury set to offer Lloyds to general public September 17, 2013 INDIVIDUAL investors could get a chunk of the government’s holding in Lloyds Bank when the Treasury sells the rest of its shares, raising the prospect of Thatcher-style popular capitalism. After the successful sale of a six per cent stake in the bank for £3.2bn, George Osborne said the remaining 32.7 per cent could go to [...]
Clegg serves up free lunches for school kids September 17, 2013 NICK Clegg will today confirm that all pupils will receive free schools meals for their first three years of education – in a coalition deal that paves the way for Conservatives to introduce a tax break for married couples. From next September all children in reception, year one and year two will automatically get their [...]