Warren Buffett values companies with strong brands: Should you? February 5, 2016 Coca-Cola, American Express, Heinz, Warren Buffett is a well-known advocate of buying and holding familiar companies with strong brands. “The dynamics of capitalism guarantee that competitors will repeatedly assault any business ‘castle’ that is earning high returns,” he wrote in 2007. “Therefore a formidable barrier such as a company being the low-cost producer or possessing [...]
John Lewis hails record-breaking Black Friday week December 4, 2015 John Lewis has reported the best week of trading in its 151-year history, as frenzied demand for the latest wearable technology, toys and televisions over the Black Friday helped the retailer smash last year’s record. The department store group said it racked up £187.7m of sales in the week ending 28 November, which was up [...]
Merlin Entertainments share price falls as Alton Towers offsets strong growth at Legoland September 17, 2015 Merlin Entertainment's share price fell this morning as the theme park group revealed it was still struggling to shrug off the impact of the shocking accident at Alton Towers earlier this year. The figures Group like-for-like sales rose 0.3 per cent in the 36 weeks ended 5 September, including the key summer trading period of July [...]
Why corporate culture fads don’t work June 18, 2015 Flat organisations may inspire creativity, but they’ll quickly deflate if staff feel directionless. There are certainly advantages to open, forward-thinking corporate cultures. Mark Zuckerberg hosts weekly Q&A sessions with Facebook staff. Richard Branson has offered unlimited holiday to employees in London, New York and Geneva. These are motivating ideas, but back in the office, [...]
Barclays to place ISS shares worth £300m December 2, 2014 Barclays was last night in the market with 13.5 per cent of the stock in ISS, the cleaning and catering group that floated earlier this year in the largest Danish IPO for 20 years. The bank acted on behalf of shareholders to buy the block in a deal worth around £300m and will be placing [...]
Everything is awesome as Legoland boosts Merlin Entertainment December 2, 2014 Merlin Entertainments, which recently announced it is to open a theme park in South Korea, has said it expects its full-year results to be in line with expectations, citing strong post-summer trading. The group expects to report earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between £407m and £411m for 2014. It points to a [...]
Black Friday UK 2014: Where are the best bargains for must-have Christmas toys? November 25, 2014 As the countdown to Black Friday – November 28 if you're wondering – continues, the big question is exactly which items will be going on sale. Luckily for you, the Toy Retailers Association has today unveiled its DreamToys, the gifts that the industry has judged “must have” Christmas crackers. The list has pedigree [...]
Everything is not awesome: Lego to drop Shell contract after Greenpeace oil spill video goes viral October 9, 2014 Greenpeace knows the value of social media. So does Lego. And, if it didn't before, now Shell does too. The toy manufacturer has announced it will not renew its multi-million-pound contract with the oil giant, after a parody video using Lego blocks to depict an Arctic oil spill went viral, notching up nearly six [...]
Lego towers over Mattel in battle to become the biggest toymaker in the world due to summer movie success September 4, 2014 LEGO has become the world’s largest toy maker after the success of this year’s Lego Movie saw sales of related products soar sending profits up 12 per cent to 3.6bn Danish kroner (£386.5m). Revenues at the Danish firm rose 11 per cent during the first six months of the year to 11.5bn Danish kroner. The [...]
Cineworld lifted by Cinema City revenue growth August 14, 2014 CINEWORLD, the largest cinema operator in the UK, reported a 33 per cent bump in revenues during the first half of the year, after its £900m takeover of European chain Cinema City helped offset weaker UK ticket sales. The Lego Movie, The Wolf of Wall Street and Twelve Years a Slave helped UK revenues to [...]