Caterer Compass gets a boost from US business February 2, 2012 COMPASS Group, the world’s biggest caterer, said yesterday first-quarter sales rose more than eight per cent, as continued strength in North America and emerging markets offset weakness in Europe, putting it on track to achieve its full-year outlook. “We have seen good levels of new business wins and the improved level of retention we achieved [...]
MILK CUTS INTO DAIRY CREST’S GROWTH February 2, 2012 Dairy Crest unveiled a two per cent rise in sales in the first nine months of the year despite what it called a “challenging business environment”. The cheesemaker said its five key brands – Cathedral City, Country Life, St Hubert Omega 3, Clover and Frijj – were up eight per cent compared with the previous [...]
LVMH expects an excellent year February 2, 2012 LVMH, the world’s biggest luxury goods group, said yesterday the outlook for 2012 was “excellent” and hiked its dividend after rapid growth in Asia and at its Louis Vuitton brand helped it post a forecast-beating rise in full-year operating profit. The French group, which last year bought Italian jeweller Bulgari, shrugged off concerns about the [...]
Game Group gets loan lifeline February 2, 2012 Struggling retailer Game Group has won a lifeline from its lenders, after they agreed to revise the terms of the firm’s loan facilities. Game said last night it now has support from its stakeholders and lenders, and expects to meet its loan covenant tests at the end of the month having lowered the limits on [...]
CME surprises with dividend February 2, 2012 CME Group has surprised investors with a huge increase in its dividend, sending shares soaring about six per cent and overshadowing disappointment with both its earnings and a new insurance fund to protect farmers from another MF Global-like collapse. CME, the biggest US futures exchange operator, said it sought to attract new investors with a [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 2, 2012 Laurence Simons The specialist legal recruitment firm has appointed Guy Adams as lead director of its European private practice team. Previously, Adams worked as a tax lawyer at Norton Rose, McGrigors and, most recently, Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, where he assisted in the growth of the firm’s tax litigation practice. Adams subsequently spent three years with [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS February 2, 2012 SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS Goldman Sachs initiates coverage of the communications technology company with a “buy” rating and a target price of 160p, and says it expects the company to maintain its position in the market due to strong customer relationships and sound product innovation. The broker expects Spirent’s stock performance to be catalysed by upside to [...]
Deutsche Bank reports loss February 2, 2012 Deutsche Bank posted a fourth-quarter pre-tax loss after investment banking wilted amid the sovereign debt crisis, and as bad investments and litigation charges spoiled Josef Ackermann’s final earnings presentation as chief executive. Deutsche Bank’s pre-tax loss of 351m euros (£292m) compared with a 707m euro profit in the comparative quarter the previous year. “The results [...]
Glencore in merger talks with Xstrata February 2, 2012 Xstrata said it had received an approach from commodities giant Glencore International that could lead to an all share merger of equals. Miner Xstrata is in talks with Glencore over an all-share merger of equals, it said on Thursday, confirming reports of a deal that could create a combined mining and trading group worth more [...]
Unilever warns of tough 2012 February 2, 2012 Consumer goods giant Unilever warned of a difficult 2012 due to a tough economic outlook after broadly matching 2011 sales forecasts after it hiked prices and saw strong emerging market growth. The Anglo-Dutch maker of brands like Hellmann’s, Knorr and Dove pushed up prices in the final three months of 2011 to offset higher commodity [...]