Priory expects healthy return from NHS bill March 29, 2012 THE PRIORY care homes operator best known for its celebrity clientele yesterday said it expects to benefit in the long term from the government’s controversial reforms of the NHS. Priory Group, bought by private equity firm Advent International for £925m last year, also said it was considering acquisitions as well as expanding existing sites after posting [...]
Rupert Murdoch tweets: News Corp preparing to hit back hard March 29, 2012 AN ANGRY Rupert Murdoch yesterday declared war against “enemies” who have accused his pay-TV operation of sabotaging its rivals, denouncing them as “toffs and right wingers” stuck in the last century. Separate reports in British and Australian media this week said that News Corp’s pay-TV smartcard security unit, NDS, had promoted piracy attacks on rivals, including [...]
CWW bid deadline extended March 29, 2012 The “put up or shut up” deadline for parties interested in Cable & Wireless Worldwide was extended yesterday, giving Tata Communications and Vodafone three more weeks to consider their options. This is the second time Vodafone, whose deadline was originally 12 March, has been granted more time. The companies are thought to be frustrated by the [...]
Net profits soar at DP World March 29, 2012 DP World, the world’s third-largest port operator, reported an 82 per cent rise in 2011 net profit yesterday, boosted by the sale of its Australian operations. The company made a $683m (£430m) profit last year compared to $375m in 2010, it said in a statement on Nasdaq Dubai. Net debt was reduced to $3.6bn and [...]
Roche sweetens bid for Illumina March 29, 2012 Roche yesterday increased its bid for US gene sequencing company Illumina to $6.7bn (£4.2bn) in hopes of winning over shareholders ahead of Illumina’s AGM next month. In a statement yesterday Roche, the Swiss drug maker, said it is now offering $51.00 per share, up from an initial $44.50 that was dismissed by Illumina for being [...]
Clinton warns outlook worse than it feared March 29, 2012 CLINTON Cards warned yesterday that the outlook for the full financial year was worse than previously expected as the ailing greeting cards and gift retailer slumped to a first-half loss. The firm, which runs 628 Clinton Cards stores and 139 Birthdays outlets, said its strategic review – led by new chief executive Darcy Wilson-Rymer – [...]
TUI Travel grabs market share from rivals as bookings improve March 29, 2012 TUI TRAVEL said yesterday it was continuing to steal market share from its struggling rival Thomas Cook after an increase in UK summer holiday bookings helped offset weakness in France. The owner of Thomson Holidays and First Choice said trading to 25 March “remains in line with our expectations”, including an improvement in winter bookings, [...]
ANALYST VIEWS IS TUI TRAVEL ON TRACK TO KEEP GAINING MARKET SHARE? March 29, 2012 NICK BATRAM PEEL HUNT Trading is broadly as expected and on the whole reassuring. However, we do feel the risk in the lates market remains high. Also, despite £0.7bn of restructuring and integration costs over the past four years, margin progression remains stubbornly slow. WYN ELLIS NUMIS TUI Travel posted a strong finish to the [...]
Laura Ashley offers shoppers a place to stay with a new hotel March 29, 2012 ENGLISH fashion and interiors designer Laura Ashley said yesterday it has bought a hotel in Hertfordshire for £5.8m as the company shrugged off tough high street conditions to post a rise in full year sales. “Our plan is to turn it into a Laura Ashley boutique hotel that will showcase our products from fabrics to [...]
Hope for Game as firm poised for rescue deal March 29, 2012 GAME’S administrator PwC could announce a successful bidder for the collapsed video games retailer as early as today, much earlier than expected. Sources close to the company said the retailer’s six lenders led by the state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland were in the lead to buy the company out of administration with a lender-led offer [...]
