Troubled Johnson in share bomb Dry cleaning to clothes hire company Johnson Service Group yesterday revealed an 80 per cent plunge in first half profits due to tough trading conditions. Johnson has been weathering a troubled period following its shares collapse last year. The group reported pre-tax profit of £0.4m, compared with £2.3m last year as revenue slumped 18 per [...]
Redrow cuts payout hit by housing slump Evidence of the housing market downturn became even more explicit yesterday as housebuilder Redrow announced a halving of profits and a new £450m debt facility to 2011. Shareholders are also losing out on a third dividend, due to an “unprecedented decline in the fortunes of the UK housing market in a very short period of [...]
EDF may face £1.5bn fee for BE takeover French energy giant EDF is facing yet another hurdle in its British Energy (BE) takeover bid – a £1.5bn approval fee. Close to finalising the bid, investors Invesco and M&G, which own 21 per cent of the shares, are understood to have pushed for a sweetener at the eleventh hour and will reiterate their position [...]
Don’t punish energy firms, says CBI boss September 5, 2008 Imposing an “arbitrary and unfair tax on the energy industry” is the worst way to help the economy Richard Lambert, CBI director general said in a speech yesterday. Lambert said market forces must be allowed to work through the system: “There are no silver bullets to halt the decline in the housing market, or to [...]
Woes aid Whitbread September 5, 2008 Whitbread, Britain’s biggest hotel and restaurants operator, yesterday emerged as a rare winner in the consumer slowdown, revealing a boost in sales in the first half of this year. Whitbread’s Premier Inn budget hotel chain accounts for about 70 per cent of total profits. Premier Inn had total sales up 17.9 per cent and like-for-like [...]
Signet fails to shine as sales slump bites September 4, 2008 The World’s biggest speciality jewellery retailer, Signet, has announced a 7.8 per cent fall in first half pre-tax profit, slightly better than analysts had feared. Signet warned that the consumer environment in both the US and the UK remained “very challenging”. Investec had forecast profits of $75.3m (£42.3m), five per cent lower than those reported. [...]
DSG cautious after sales dip at PC World September 4, 2008 Nine months into the job, John Browett, chief executive of DSG International announced yesterday he was not foreseeing a “chance for recovery until 2010”, following a first quarter slump in the market. Like-for-like sales in the 16 weeks to 23 August fell seven per cent on the same period last year, led by 12 per [...]
Millionaire killed family before blaze September 3, 2008 Millionaire businessman Christopher Foster killed his wife and daughter before setting his country mansion alight and taking his own life, police said yesterday. They said were not seeking anyone else in their week-long investigation. The bodies of 50-year-old Foster and his wife were found in the charred ruins of the house on Friday, although Foster’s [...]
Job appointments tumble September 3, 2008 The rate of permanent employment appointments fell in August at the sharpest rate for almost seven years according to a report from KPMG published today. Shrinking demand for staff has led to the lowest number of permanent places since November 2001; the fifth consecutive month of employment cutbacks. Kevin Green, chief executive, of the Recruitment [...]
InBev plans £1bn deal September 3, 2008 Belgian brewer InBev is planning to put its South Korean beer business up for sale, sources said yesterday. The move is an effort to shed a noncore asset and raise what could be roughly £1bn for its purchase of US brewer Anheuser-Busch. Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase will run the auction for the business, called [...]
