BAT looks to overseas for profits hike August 1, 2008 A strong performance in emerging markets helped BAT turn in better than expected first-half profits yesterday Europe’s largest cigarette maker, whose brands include Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, reported a 16 per cent rise in profit from operations to £1.72bn from £1.49bn a year earlier. The reported group revenue increased by 15 per [...]
Advertising slump dents Trinity sales August 1, 2008 Trinity Mirror revealed an 8 per cent fall in first-half sales to £460.8m, with heavy falls in advertising revenues continuing to take their toll The parent company of the Daily Mirror was further rocked by a 15 per cent slump in advertising sales during the month of July. Advertising comprises nearly 51 per cent of [...]
Cheer Up: Not all media companies are preforming badly August 1, 2008 Look: it’s time for all this generalised gloom about the state of the media to stop There is nothing anyone can do about the state of the economy or the severe downward pressure on advertising revenues. Not even Gordon Brown can do anything about that. But this week there has been more good news than [...]
Miliband says no leadership challenge July 31, 2008 The favourite to succeed Gordon Brown sidestepped claims yesterday he was launching a leadership bid and said he was convinced the prime minister could win the next election. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, a youthful figure at the centre of the party, sparked talk of a leadership challenge by saying Labour needed a “radical new phase” [...]
Buying property on a golf course can be an above par investment July 31, 2008 Look to the States or Morocco for a sporting second home, writes Alex Delmar-Morgan As the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale reached its nail-biting conclusion recently, with Irishman Padraig Harrington pipping veteran Aussie Greg Norman to win the claret jug, many around the country were surely visualising themselves ambling round a gold-course, driver in hand, [...]
Cadbury sales get a credit crunch boost July 31, 2008 Credit crunch-induced comfort eating saw Cadbury beat forecasts with a 46 per cent rise in first-half profits and give an upbeat outlook, shrugging off fears of a consumer downturn. However, the Dairy Milk chocolate maker warned of possible further cost cuts and job losses as it faces an uncertain economic outlook and further rises in [...]
It is still not the time to be buying into retail stocks July 31, 2008 The European General Retail sector has fallen by about 25 per cent so far this year. But does this sharp decline in price make retail shares a good buy? We think that there are a variety of reasons to remain wary. The first reason is a depressed outlook for consumer demand. With continued worries about [...]
Next cautious after half year sales fall 6 per cent July 31, 2008 Next, the second largest clothing retailer in the UK, saw sales fall in the first half of the year and said the trend was likely to continue this year. Second quarter sales actually fared better than expected, down 2.4 per cent on the same quarter the previous year, as the warmer summer weather coaxed shoppers [...]
Record share dividend for Admiral July 31, 2008 Admiral, the insurance firm, yesterday revealed pre-tax profits of £100.3m for the first half of 2008, a 16 per cent rise from the same time last year. The group announced a record dividend of 26p per share, a 26 per cent increase. In addition, over £3m in shares will be distributed to staff who have [...]
Don Argus raises the stakes with Rio July 31, 2008 BHP Billiton chairman Don Argus issued Rio Tinto shareholders yesterday with a stern warning that their firm’s share price would lower without BHP’s £75bn takeover offer. Argus said that his group’s bid, which if successful would create the largest miner in the world and would be one of the biggest takeovers of all time, would [...]
