Wealthy clients boost profits at St James’s Place July 26, 2012 WEALTH manager St James’s Place yesterday beat expectations as it announced a 20 per cent jump in first half profits to £220.5m. Analysts had thought sales would struggle as clients feared economic uncertainity in the Eurozone and kept their funds close to hand. But instead St James’s said that new business hit £353.9m in the [...]
Arbuthnot bucks trend as new structure defies banking slump July 26, 2012 ARBUTHNOT reported pre-tax profit of £10.8m for the half year, up from £200,000 a year ago, thanks in part to the rapid growth of Secure Trust, the retail banking arm that it floated on Aim in November. Secure Trust, which remains 75 per cent owned by Arbuthnot, boasted its own pre-tax profit of £12.5m as [...]
Note of caution for De La Rue July 26, 2012 MONEY printer De La Rue said orders in the last three months have been lower than expected, with an order book broadly flat on a year ago. The banknote maker added that it has “a number of important opportunities in the pipeline that are yet to be confirmed for production in the current financial year”. [...]
Investec hurt by rand’s fall July 26, 2012 BANKING group Investec said yesterday it is trading in line with last year, though the falling South African rand has hampered its progress. The firm said its operations in South Africa were doing well on a constant currency basis – but the 17 per cent fall of the rand over the last year has impacted [...]
Travis Perkins profits washed out by weather July 26, 2012 BUILDERS’ MERCHANT Travis Perkins blamed the unseasonably wet weather for stalling construction activity in the first half of the year and wiping £10m off profits. The company, which owns brands such as City Plumbing and Tile Giant, said revenues fell 0.7 per cent to £2.4bn on a like-for-like basis, with “exceptional” bad weather impacting its [...]
Capital Shopping Centres suffers as its rival Shaftesbury prospers July 26, 2012 CAPITAL Shopping Centres, Britain’s largest shopping centre owner, has suffered a drop in rental income in the first half of 2012 as it struggled to re-let shops following a string of retail failures earlier this year. The owner of malls including the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex, said like-for-like net rental income [...]
Unilever defies gloom with strong growth July 26, 2012 STRONG emerging markets helped consumer goods giant Unilever avoid issuing similar profit warnings to two of its main rivals yesterday, although it did warn of tougher times ahead due to difficult economies and volatile input costs. The maker of brands such as Dove and Knorr is facing tough trading in southern Europe and is seeing [...]
Tate & Lyle says earnings are in line despite European weakness July 26, 2012 TATE & Lyle said its operating profit for the three months to June was in line with its expectations, as strong demand for its speciality food ingredients from the US and emerging markets offset weaker appetite in Europe. The London-based group, which makes sucralose zero-calorie sweetener Splenda, said yesterday operating profit in the sucralose division [...]
Contract wins lift Compass July 26, 2012 SHARES in Compass Group,the world’s biggest caterer, rose almost five per cent yesterday after it reported strong third quarter figures, boosted by large contract wins in emerging markets. The group, which caters for everyone from the armed forces to schools around the world, posted a 5.7 per cent rise in revenue in the quarter to [...]
PPR and LVMH see strong sales July 26, 2012 French luxury firms PPR and LVMH reported strong first-half profit growth yesterday. LVMH, the world’s largest luxury company which holds brands like Louis Vuitton, saw a 20 per cent rise in its profit from recurring operations, which reached €2.66bn. PPR also saw its recurring operating income rise 20.4 per cent. Its luxury division profit growth [...]
