BAE loses to Dassault over £7bn contract January 31, 2012 BAE Systems has been beaten in the race to secure an Indian government fighter jet contract by French manufacturer Dassault. The Dassault Rafale is understood to have been identified as preferred model for the contract, worth up to $11bn (£7bn), ahead of the Eurofighter Typhoon – in a major blow to UK manufacturing. The Typhoon [...]
Apple hires Dixons boss as retail chief January 31, 2012 APPLE has poached John Browett, the boss of Dixons Retail, to take charge of its burgeoning network of retail stores. He will join the US technology giant in April as senior vice president of retail, replacing Ron Johnson, who resigned from Apple last November to join the US department store chain JC Penney as chief [...]
California calls for customer expert January 31, 2012 It has been a turbulent few years for John Browett since taking over the reins as Dixons’ chief executive in 2007. No sooner was he poached from Tesco – where he was in charge of building the supermarket’s fast-growing online business– than the recession hit and Browett was faced with a battle to secure the [...]
A new challenge for Browett January 31, 2012 WE learnt yesterday that Apple had poached John Browett, former chief executive of Dixons, to head their worldwide retail operations. A look at YouGov’s BrandIndex, which tracks public perception of brands, suggests that this could be a good move for both Apple and Browett. Apple have secured themselves a man who kept Dixons as the [...]
Santander takes €1.7bn property hit January 31, 2012 A MASSIVE write-down on its Spanish property portfolio wiped out Santander’s profits in the fourth quarter of last year, the bank revealed in full-year results yesterday. The lender was forced to make a net provision of €1.67bn due to the plunging value of its assets, mostly in Spanish real estate. That took its bottom line [...]
Ocado cuts its losses by 80 per cent and says its warehouse problems are solved January 31, 2012 OCADO said warehousing problems that prompted it to issue a profit warning last month were largely solved as the online grocer posted a pre-tax loss of £2.4m for the year to the end of November 2011. In its second set of preliminary results since its flotation in 2010, Ocado said it had cut its losses [...]
Occupy LSX protesters still noisy and abusive to clergy – St Paul’s January 31, 2012 PROTESTERS outside St Paul’s continue to abuse clergy and disrupt services, cathedral officials said yesterday. The presence of the Occupy LSX camp also triggered a drop in worshippers over the Christmas period, St Paul’s registrar Nicholas Cottam said in a letter to the City of London, despite activists’ repeated claims to be “working with” the [...]
Fears of profit wipeout dent Amazon stock January 31, 2012 SHARES in Amazon plunged more than nine per cent last night after the world’s largest online retailer warned it could make a first-quarter loss. The firm forecast quarterly operating performance ranging from a loss of $200m (£126.9m) to a profit of $100m, below Wall Street expectations. The figures include $200m for stock-based compensation and other expenses. [...]
Halliburton wins its costs case in fresh blow for BP January 31, 2012 BP has suffered its second setback in a week over Gulf of Mexico spill costs, after a federal judge said yesterday Halliburton is not liable for some pollution claims arising from the disaster in 2010. BP must indemnify Halliburton, which provided cementing services for the Macondo oil well, for third-party compensatory claims under their contract, [...]
Spain’s N+1 to launch Brewin Dolphin advisory January 31, 2012 BREWIN Dolphin’s advisory and broking business starts a new life today under the ownership of Spain’s N+1 investment bank. Around 15 of the Brewin Dolphin employees have invested around £500,000 in the venture, giving them a 21 per cent stake in the business. Brewin Dolphin, which retains its wealth management business, will take a 14 [...]