Burberry sees sales surge as luxury booms January 17, 2012 BRITISH fashion house Burberry has posted a 21 per cent uplift in Christmas sales after high-spending tourists continued to flock to its flagship stores in search of its iconic trench-coats and leather goods. The 156 year-old firm said underlying sales rose to £574m in the three months to 31 December from £480m a year earlier, [...]
Dixons fights on despite decline in Christmas takings January 17, 2012 DIXONS RETAIL, Europe’s second largest electronics retailer, reported a decline in sales over the Christmas period, though it managed to improve its margins in spite of widespread discounting on the high street. The owner of Currys and PC World said sales at stores open more than a year fell by five per cent in the [...]
Matalan enjoys a boost in turnover but warns of a tougher year ahead January 17, 2012 MATALAN has warned of tough trading to come as consumers continue to feel the pinch, despite the firm posting a rise in like-for-like sales and delivering its best sales week since 2005. The out-of-town fashion and homeware retailer said like-for-like sales increased by 9.9 per cent in the five weeks to 31 December, up from [...]
DS Smith in £1.3bn deal for packager January 17, 2012 DS Smith is buying the recycled packaging operations of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget for €1.6bn (£1.3bn) in a move to secure more business from the world’s top consumer goods companies. The company said the acquisition, which excludes two mills in Sweden that use virgin pulp, would be financed by a combination of debt and £466m from [...]
Growing Hyperion mulls IPO January 17, 2012 INSURANCE group Hyperion has moved nearer to a flotation after reporting a rise in revenue and earnings. The broker and underwriter, which is backed by 3i, Britain’s oldest private equity firm, increased revenue by 21 per cent to £87m for the year to 30 September. The firm bought smaller insurance groups in Israel and the [...]
Lansdowne fund hit by 2011 slump January 17, 2012 HEDGE fund Lansdowne Partners has emerged as the latest casualty of a dire 2011 for the industry with a slump of more than a fifth at a key British fund. The Lansdowne UK Fund lost 20.07 per cent last year, its first annual loss since it was launched 10 years ago. The $1.7 trillion (£1.1 [...]
Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney January 17, 2012 This week, we’re asking members of our readers’ panel how they would vote if the 2012 Presidential race ends up pitting Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney against incumbent Barack Obama. We also want to know who you think is most likely to win. And will Romney’s experience running Bain Capital help or hinder his campaign? To [...]
Soft landing in China as euro hits exports January 17, 2012 ECONOMIC growth in China slowed to a two and a half year low in the fourth quarter of 2011, though the data points to a “soft landing” rather than the hard deterioration economists feared. Chinese GDP grew by 8.9 per cent in the year, compared with 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to the third [...]
Union rejects Tube Olympics deal January 17, 2012 Transport union the RMT has rejected a new pay offer from London Underground, warning that it could start dispute action if further progress is not made. The RMT said the offer of a £100 target-based bonus plus a £15 per shift payment during the Olympics for operational staff was “derisory, inadequate” and that it would [...]
Study: Stop focus on tech growth January 17, 2012 Governments are wrong to focus exclusively on technology start-ups when looking to promote high-growth businesses, claims research from the Strathclyde Business School. Innovation schemes in many countries focus on the sector and on university research spin-offs, when they only actually produce very few successful firms. “It is dangerous to adopt policies which pre-judge where high-growth [...]
