Greene King toasts sales rise September 7, 2010 Greene King has seen an upturn in sales thanks to its pub grub. The brewer and pub operator saw sales lift by 4.4 per cent in the last 18 weeks. Like-for-like food sales rose 8.6 per cent. However sales of Greene King’s own beer, which includes IPA, dropped five per cent. Chief executive Rooney Anand [...]
Debenhams slashes prices September 7, 2010 Department store group Debenhams is cutting prices by up to 25 per cent, in a sign retailers are increasingly nervous about the outlook for consumer spending. Debenhams said yesterday it was lowering prices on “tens of thousands” of goods now in a bid to attract wary shoppers, rather than waiting to use discounting as a [...]
SPORTS DIRECT NETS A WORLD CUP BOOST September 7, 2010 SPORTS Direct, the biggest seller of England team shirts, saw profits rise during the World Cup despite the side’s dismal performance. In the 13 weeks to 25 July, sales jumped 8.8 per cent to £408m, while profit rose 17.8 per cent to £185m. Chief executive Dave Forsey said: “These results clearly show that Sports Direct [...]
Flight to size hurts smaller hedge funds September 7, 2010 BOUTIQUE hedge funds are suffering as investors’ cash flows into larger investment houses in a trend dubbed the “flight to size”, a survey published last night revealed. The top five European hedge funds by size grew their assets under management by 18 per cent to $112bn (£73bn) in the year to mid-2010, according to research [...]
Dubai Holdings delays $555m loan repayment September 7, 2010 DUBAI Holding’s main unit will delay repayment on a $555m (£361.4m) loan until 30 November, the company said yesterday, the second time it has failed to meet a repayment deadline. DHCOG, a unit of the conglomerate owned by the Gulf Arab emirate’s ruler, took a big hit on its exposure to Dubai’s property crash. The [...]
Basel banking rules focus on capital buffer September 7, 2010 CENTRAL bank and regulatory officials agreed tougher new global bank capital rules yesterday but will keep investors on tenterhooks until Sunday when formal endorsement is expected. The Basel Committee ended its meeting with recommendations on how much extra capital banks will have to hold in future to avoid governments having to bail out the sector [...]
Mining tax headache returns September 7, 2010 AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Julia Gillard secured a wafer thin parliamentary majority yesterday, ending a political impasse but hardly cheering investors worried about the fragility of her government and its plans to tax mining profits. Gillard’s Labor Party, which was punished by voters in 21 August inconclusive elections despite a robust economy, secured enough support from [...]
SEC mulls tightening up process for stock orders September 7, 2010 US regulators are probing certain practices around “quote stuffing,” where large numbers of rapid-fire stock orders are placed and cancelled almost immediately, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Mary Schapiro said yesterday. “The SEC and other regulators are looking carefully at certain practices in this area to assess whether they violate existing rules against fraudulent [...]
Anglo relief as Ireland extends aid September 7, 2010 IRELAND extended its guarantee for short-term bank liabilities, including corporate and interbank deposits, as expected yesterday as the government sought to reassure investors about its financial position. The move came as Irish bond spreads hit fresh peaks amid renewed jitters about the health of the European banking sector piling more pressure on Ireland as it [...]
Pinnacle team brings in second agent to attract pre-let tenants to the tower September 7, 2010 ARAB Investments, the developer of the Pinnacle skyscraper, has brought in an extra letting agent to sell leases in the tower on Billingsgate. Property company CB Richard Ellis has joined Savills as joint leasing agent on the tower, which is set to be the tallest building in London when completed in 2013. “It’s something we’ve [...]
