Logitech begins transformation April 26, 2012 ■ Logitech posted a 44 per cent profit slump in its full year results yesterday as operating income dropped by 50 per cent to $72m (£44.5m). But the company’s share price jumped by 17 per cent after a better than expected fourth quarter, which saw profits multiply ninefold to $28.3m and operating income soar from [...]
Mecom issues profit warning April 26, 2012 ■ Publishing group Mecom cut its full-year earnings forecast yesterday as its quarterly revenues dropped by six per cent. Slightly offset by lower operating costs and a three per cent rise in non-advertising revenue, the quarter was dragged down by a 12 per cent decline in advertising sales.
O2 releases its mobile wallet app April 26, 2012 ■ Yesterday saw the launch of O2 Wallet, the telecom giant’s answer to mobile banking. The app allows customers to transfer money to others – up to £500 a day – and digitise their credit cards to facilitate mobile shopping. The digital service cannot yet be used to pay in shops by tapping a phone [...]
How to get hired: 30 seconds in a lift with your future boss April 26, 2012 MAKING small talk with your boss as you ride the elevator together to the 33rd floor is probably something that most people try to avoid first thing in the morning, with the weather, weekend plans and last night’s television ranking high among the “safe” topics for discussion. But what if that 30-second journey was all [...]
TOPPING OUT THE HERON April 26, 2012 THE City’s first major residential development for 30 years reached a milestone yesterday, holding a topping out ceremony to commemorate reaching the highest point in the building of the Heron. Heron said that almost 80 per cent of the 285 apartments had now been sold.
On your bike: Raleigh pedals off to Holland April 26, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Raleigh Cycle is set for a multimillion pound windfall after agreeing to sell the classic British bike business to a Dutch rival. Alan Finden-Crofts, a 42 per cent shareholder, will stay on at the 125-year-old company for six months after yesterday’s deal, which values Raleigh at about €76m (£62m) including debt. [...]
British American Tobacco sees strong growth at start of 2012 April 26, 2012 BRITISH American Tobacco, the world’s second-largest cigarette maker, has reported a 0.7 per cent rise in underlying first-quarter volumes, driven by growth in its major brands in a challenging global trading environment. The London-based group, which makes Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall cigarettes, said yesterday that overall group volumes rose 1.3 per cent [...]
Unilever sales lifted by price hikes and emerging markets April 26, 2012 CONSUMER goods giant Unilever beat forecasts with an 8.4 per cent rise in first-quarter sales yesterday, helped by price hikes and emerging market growth. The Anglo-Dutch maker of brands like Dove and Knorr is battling high input costs from rising commodity prices such as crude and vegetable oils, and slow growth in developed nations. It [...]
Arden Partners suitor walks away April 26, 2012 ■ City broker Arden Partners will not be bought by former director Grahame Whateley after the two sides failed to reach a deal before a Takeover Panel deadline yesterday. The firm said it had “engaged in discussions with Whateley” but could not agree on the structure of the takeover.
Graphite Capital in restaurant focus April 26, 2012 ■ Private equity house Graphite Capital is putting £21m behind two of London’s best-known restaurateurs. It has invested in Rex Restaurant Associates, owned by Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, whose venues include The Wolseley, on Piccadilly, and The Delaunay, on the corner of Aldwych and Drury Lane. Corbin and King previously owned Le Caprice and [...]
