Carpetright issues yet another profit alert as bed sales flop April 24, 2012 CARPETRIGHT yesterday issued another profit warning, this time blaming disappointing bed sales and poor trading in Europe. After a warning in January, analysts had trimmed profit forecasts for Britain’s biggest floorings retailer to about £6m – but the firm admitted this has dipped again. “The level of bed sales in the UK has been below [...]
Walmart drops after bribery probe reports April 24, 2012 SHARES in Walmart continued to fall yesterday as the firm set out further anti-corruption measures in a bid to staunch growing criticism over a potential bribery scandal in Mexico. Walmart said it will hire a new global compliance officer, who will monitor the firm’s actions worldwide to ensure it stays within the US Foreign Corrupt Practices [...]
Dutch finances remain healthy after fiscal row April 24, 2012 THE NETHERLANDS saw borrowing costs hold steady at a bond auction yesterday, despite the fall of its government on Monday, but the Italian government again saw yields rise on its debt. The Dutch government sold €1.995bn (£1.63bn) in two- and 25-year bonds, with yields of 0.523 per cent and 2.78 per cent respectively, both almost [...]
Greek recession gets worse but central bank calls for more cuts April 24, 2012 GREECE’S recession will be even worse than thought just a few months ago, the country’s central bank warned yesterday, slashing the troubled country’s GDP forecast yet again. The economy is now set to contract by five per cent this year, following 2011’s 6.9 per cent recession and worse than previous expectations of a 4.5 per [...]
Hungary close to ending EU row April 24, 2012 ■ The EU will not take Hungary to court to resolve a row over a central bank law that has frozen aid talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it emerged yesterday, fuelling optimism that Budapest may be nearer a deal to stabilise the country’s economy. Signs of progress came as Prime Minister Viktor Orban [...]
Draghi insists €1 trillion is helping April 24, 2012 ■ The European Central Bank’s (ECB) €1 trillion (£818bn) injection of three-year funds is working its way through the banking system and will serve the economy, the central bank’s head Mario Draghi said yesterday. The ECB lent banks the ultra-long term money in December and February, and Draghi has previously said the operations helped avoid [...]
Bahrain race controversy has failed to hurt Formula One’s sponsors April 24, 2012 LAST week’s Bahrain Grand Prix has been the source of much controversy, but has the negative coverage impacted the event’s associated sponsors? Prior to last Sunday’s race, a YouGov poll found that just 29 per cent of Britons thought the Grand Prix should go ahead, compared to 42 per cent would have cancelled it (another [...]
Redrow to raise £80m to help fund expansion April 24, 2012 SHARES in housebuilder Redrow rose by almost eight per cent yesterday after it said it would raise about £80m to increase investment in London and outside the capital, in a move that could raise the stake of its executive chairman to above 40 per cent. The company, one of the smaller London-listed housebuilders, said it [...]
Benetton signs up for shares in Brunello Cucinelli’s Italian IPO April 24, 2012 ITALIAN clothing group Benetton said yesterday it had bought two per cent of cashmere specialist Brunello Cucinelli, which is in the process of listing its shares in Milan. Cucinelli has priced its initial public offering at €7.75 per share, the top of the planned range. The offer was covered around 17 times at the highest [...]
Capita placing to pay for new acquisitions April 24, 2012 CAPITA yesterday fired the starting gun on a new round of acquisitions funded by the placing of 40m shares while it reported a sales jump of 17 per cent. The outsourcer said it placed around 40m new shares – equivalent to 6.5 per cent of its existing issued share capital and valued at about £274m. [...]