Findel narrows first half losses as its turnaround gathers pace November 27, 2013 FINDEL said yesterday that efforts to turn the business around were starting to pay off, as the home shopping group narrowed losses in the first half of the year from £6m to £400,000. Revenues increased by 5.2 per cent to £243.6m in the six months to 27 September thanks to a strong performance from Express [...]
Sale of Fresh & Easy puts end to Tesco US dream November 27, 2013 TESCO yesterday shut the door on its loss-making move into the US after completing the sale of its Fresh & Easy business to American billionaire Ron Burkle’s investment firm Yucaipa. The sale of 150 Fresh & Easy stores to Burkle’s Yucaipa cost Tesco £150m – including an £80m loan to the new business and £70m [...]
Insurer Generali sees scope for higher dividends as its debt falls November 27, 2013 ITALIAN insurer Generali is aiming to pay higher dividends to investors as its turnaround plan to cut debt through a string of asset disposals and hefty cost savings starts to pay off, its new chief executive said yesterday. Europe’s third-largest insurer by market capitalisation has already raised €2.4bn through asset sales as part of an [...]
Oxford Instruments comes back with £159m offer for Andor Tech November 27, 2013 OXFORD Instruments said it had made a firm offer to buy scientific camera maker Andor Technology for about £159m, the same price it indicated it would be willing to pay earlier this month. Oxford Instruments had been in talks with Andor for some months before making its interest public on 12 November, a move that [...]
Shaftesbury to give Chinatown shops a facelift November 27, 2013 WEST END landlord Shaftesbury said yesterday it is looking to shake up Chinatown by refurbishing some of the buildings and bringing in new restaurant operators from the Far East, as the group posted strong full-year figures. Chinatown, which makes up 22 per cent of Shaftesbury’s portfolio, has the largest concentration of restaurants in the UK [...]
Telford Homes aims to double size of the business in five years November 27, 2013 THE CHIEF executive of Telford Homes said the group aims to double in size in the next five years after reporting a strong first half. The east London housebuilder raised £20m through a share placing in June and also increased its borrowing facilities to £120m, allowing it to buy more sites and tap into demand [...]
Repsol board agrees to open talks with Argentina over YPF November 27, 2013 THE BOARD of Spain’s Repsol unanimously agreed yesterday to start formal talks with Argentina over a compensation offer for assets Buenos Aires seized last year that could end an 18-month standoff between the two countries. Sources with knowledge of the matter have told Reuters that the deal is worth $5bn, half of what Repsol was [...]
Luton Airport’s new operators pledge to upgrade its services November 27, 2013 LUTON’S new operators pledged to transform the airport yesterday as their deal for the right to run the Bedfordshire site was completed. Spanish airport group Aena revealed in July its plan to team up with private equity firm Ardian to buy the 49 per cent of Luton’s concession it did not already own for £394.4m. [...]
Peugeot boss gives up pension November 27, 2013 The outgoing chief executive of French carmaker Peugeot Citroen said yesterday he would forego his pension package after an outcry from both labour unions and government ministers. Peugeot had set aside €21m for Philippe Varin’s pension deal, which he will now not take. The firm is cutting more than 10,000 jobs as it struggles to [...]
EU refinery laws due next year November 27, 2013 The European Commission will unveil the results of a study of the EU laws governing refiners by September 2014, officials said yesterday. As profit margins have shrunk, Europe’s refineries have been closing units faster than demand has contracted. The industry have welcomed the legislation, but fear it will come too late to prevent new legal [...]