McCarthy & Stone board hires December 3, 2013 Retirement home builder McCarthy & Stone yesterday appointed two new non-executive directors to its board. Frank Nelson, former finance director of Galliford Try, and Mike Parsons, the outgoing chief executive of Barchester Health, will join the board immediately. Chairman John White said: “We are working towards our goal of taking McCarthy & Stone to the [...]
Micro Focus sees profit fall December 3, 2013 Micro Focus yesterday posted a slide in half year pre tax profits down seven per cent to $75.8m (£46.3m) from a year earlier. Revenue was up 2.4 per cent to $207.5m on constant currency basis. “Our business profile was more balanced in the first half and whilst markets remain challenging we are seeing a strong [...]
Celebs hold the line for Icap’s 31st Charity Day December 3, 2013 WITHIN a few minutes of walking through the doors of Icap yesterday The Capitalist had run into a pack of rowdy pirates, walked past a “Broking Bad meth lab” and watched a conga line of gladiators snake its way through the famous trading floor – there was no mistaking it, Icap’s 31st Charity Day was [...]
Tidjane Thiam: from Paris with love December 3, 2013 PRUDENTIAL boss Tidjane Thiam sent a pretty overt message to his French countrymen when he accepted his Grand Prix de l’Economie award last week. Facing a packed Parisian audience (which included Christine Lagarde), Tidjane – a graduate of France’s top universities – chose to extol the UK’s business practices, describing the UK as having a “unique [...]
What Tim might be Cook-ing up on his Christmas wish list December 3, 2013 With Apple’s recent purchase of Topsy, Tim Cook is clearly enjoying a touch of retail therapy in the lead up to Christmas. The Capitalist thought it would be fun to try to second guess what else might be on Cook’s list. 1 Snapchat – Topsy is one of Apple’s first forays into social media, so [...]
Betfair looks to US and Italy for fresh growth December 3, 2013 ONLINE gaming company Betfair is looking to grow its business in the US state of New Jersey as well as in Italy. The company reported a six per cent drop in revenues yesterday to £188m during the six months to 31 October, reflecting a retreat from markets including Germany and Greece. However, underlying profit was [...]
Vodafone hires former Bupa boss Gooding as a non-exec December 3, 2013 VODAFONE has hired Val Gooding to sit on its board as a non-exec. Gooding, who is the chairman of tech parts specialist Premier Farnell, will join Vodafone on 1 February, the FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant said yesterday. She spent 10 years as the chief executive of healthcare group Bupa. Gooding is also lead non-executive director [...]
Food, coupons and ale drive Greene King’s profit higher December 3, 2013 GREENE King reported revenue growth of more than five per cent yesterday on the back of strong retail pub sales during the first half of the year. The company said that food sales and its use of promotions at its retail pubs had led to profits reaching £85.6m, up 5.7 per cent during the six [...]
Analyst Views: What are your views on Greene King’s interim financial results? December 3, 2013 GEOF COLLYER DEUTSCHE BANK With bookings up 17 per cent at the same stage last year and with the Christmas and New Year holidays falling in mid-week, we expect the festive period to be a good one for the sector. Greene King’s shares have risen modestly in recent trading. We do not see any reason [...]
Exillon Energy investor mulls takeover offer December 3, 2013 FTSE 250-listed oil explorer Exillon Energy’s second largest shareholder yesterday said it had approached the board to make a possible offer for the rest of the company. Hanberg Finance, which is owned by Russian billionaire entrepreneur Mikhail Gutseriev, currently holds a 14.9 per cent stake in Exillon. It is considering making a bid of at [...]