Tesco beats volcano with record profits April 20, 2010 TESCO yesterday reported record pre-tax profits of £3.2bn – while escaping the impact of the volcanic ash crisis because so little of its produce is imported by plane. The company saw its net profit up 10.4 per cent up on the previous 12 months. The supermarket giant said the reason for the gains included an [...]
Tesco April 20, 2010 THE LATE Jack Cohen, who founded Tesco in 1924, was fond of telling staff “you can’t do business sitting on your arse”. It’s a slogan that clearly resonates with the current management team, who show no sign of losing their expansionary zeal. Tesco has grown much further and faster than domestic rivals like J Sainsbury [...]
Primark and recovery boost AB Food outlook April 20, 2010 PRIMARK owner Associated British Foods said the global recovery was underway, prompting it to predict a “very good” rise in annual earnings after beating forecasts with half-year profits up 20 per cent. The London-based food and retail group reported strong momentum in many of its businesses around the world and even Britain showed signs of [...]
Liverpool embark on odyssey to Madrid April 20, 2010 LIVERPOOL are due to finally arrive in Madrid this afternoon, more than 24 hours after they and Fulham both embarked on mammoth journeys in order to reach their Europa League semi-finals. The Reds, who face Atletico Madrid tomorrow night, began an odyssey by road, rail and air yesterday afternoon. A handful of coach rides, three [...]
Thorntons hit by poor Easter profit warning April 20, 2010 CHOCOLATE maker Thorntons issued a profit warning yesterday after bad winter weather and competition from supermarkets hit Easter sales, forcing it to give a cautious outlook for the year. Thorntons said it now expected to post a full-year pre-tax profit before exceptionals of around £7.5m against £8.9m forecast in a Thomson Reuters poll. In a [...]
UK fly ban criticised as an over-reaction April 20, 2010 LAST night’s decision by the authorities to re-open Britain’s airspace was yesterday criticised by the aviation industry and London Mayor Boris Johnson for being “too little, too late.” The six day suspension has left hundreds of thousands stranded and caused severe damage to the economy. British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh, said he was pleased [...]
Wimbledon champs hit £1m jackpot April 20, 2010 THE singles champions at this year’s Wimbledon will each pocket £1m in prize money for the first time. The All England Club has increased the winner’s cheque by £150,000 from last year to offset the fall in value of the pound against the dollar and euro. Each runner-up will take home £500,000 – an increase [...]
Grounded commercial flights create a boon for private jets April 20, 2010 A RAFT of private jet and helicopter companies have cashed in on the chaos generated by thousands of grounded commercial liners as they transported stranded business passengers to and from mainland Europe. Operators, including NetJets, Ocean Sky and Jet Aviation have seen the number of requests sky rocket as most of Europe continues to face [...]
Insurers lobby to avoid paying out to cover airline losses April 20, 2010 UNCERTAINTY over who will foot the losses generated by the flight restriction mounted yesterday as it remained unclear how insurance cover would be given to the airlines. Airlines impacted by the closure of airspace could have cover, according to Holman Fenwick Willan lawyer Paul Wordley, but only if they have business interruption triggers in their [...]
Bangalore blasts will concern ICC April 20, 2010 THE blasts in Bangalore at the weekend were not only a worry for Indian Premier League chiefs, but will also be pretty disturbing for the ICC ahead of next year’s World Cup on the sub-continent. Bangalore is historically a very friendly town, but so anxious are the IPL, they have been forced to move this [...]
