Theo Paphitis buys Robert Dyas for £10m July 10, 2012 SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR and Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis has snapped up Robert Dyas, the hardware chain, for around £10m. The 140-year old retailer which started its life as an ironmonger, was on the brink of collapse in 2009 but was rescued by its lenders, Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds Banking Group, in a debt-for-equity swap. [...]
ASOS bucks the retail gloom as revenue jumps July 10, 2012 SHARES IN ASOS rallied more than 10 per cent yesterday after the fast-growing online fashion retailer outshone its bricks-and-mortar peers and posted a 31 per cent rise in first-quarter sales. The internet shopping site targeted at fashionable 20-somethings said trading was buoyed by a strong performance in the United States and Australia as well as [...]
Web treats prove to be a real bargain July 10, 2012 SHOPPING is all about justification. “I need that extra jumper because…”. And when it comes to justifying our purchases, we turn to one of two options. “Because I’m worth it” or “because it’s cheap”. Buying decisions, beyond bare essentials, are about treats and bargains. That’s true even in cash-strapped times like the present. Earlier this [...]
$200m missing from PFGBest July 10, 2012 The US futures trading industry reeled yesterday as federal regulators accused Iowa-based broker PFGBest of misusing over $200m in customer funds for more than two years, resurrecting the shock of MF Global’s collapse. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said that the broker’s regulated Peregrine Financial Group unit and its owner had failed to maintain sufficient [...]
Nokia continues to crumble July 10, 2012 Troubled phone maker Nokia hurtled along its downwards tumble yesterday as it shares sank a further three per cent to a 17 year low. The Finnish company, which once dominated the mobile phone market, has failed to keep up with newer offerings from smartphone giants Apple and Samsung and posted in April a €1.34bn (£1bn) [...]
Smiths News enjoys revenue leap July 10, 2012 Newspaper and magazine wholesaler Smiths News projected better than expected sales yesterday following its takeovers of Dawson Books and stationery maker The Consortium. Income for the 44 weeks to 7 July increased 3.3 per cent, although the seller’s core business was harmed by declining newspaper sales. Shares jumped by five per cent to 99p yesterday.
Economy slips yet again as UK slump goes on July 10, 2012 THE UK economy is likely to have shrunk yet again in the second quarter, making this the longest recession in modern history, according to estimates released yesterday by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Their prediction that GDP fell 0.2 per cent in the second quarter carries some weight among analysts, because [...]
US data reveals recession hit the richest the hardest July 10, 2012 THE TOP one per cent of earners in the US saw their pre-tax incomes suffer the most from 2007 to 2009, according to data released yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Income before tax plummeted by 36 per cent for the highest one per cent of households by earnings, the CBO said. For the [...]
Exports soar despite drop in trade with the rest of EU July 10, 2012 THE UK’S trade deficit narrowed in May, with exports soaring, according to the data released yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The deficit in goods was down to £8.4bn, from £9.7bn in April, and the surplus in services remained unchanged at £5.6bn, so that the current account showed a deficit of £2.7bn, compared [...]
CEBR forecasts slow growth for rest of year July 10, 2012 THE GLOBAL economy will expand only very slowly in the second half of the year, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted today. The CEBR expects growth of about one per cent over the second six months of the year, with inflation in danger of turning negative. Douglas McWilliams at the CEBR said: [...]
