So have they taken their eye off the ball? September 30, 2014 BSkyB has built a strong position in the UK media market to become the largest pay-TV provider in the country with 10.5m subscribers. Football is at the heart of its empire, but recent investments suggest it may be looking more at expanding its other divisions. Football has been key to BSkyB’s growth since its founding [...]
Hamleys meets its Middle Eastern match September 30, 2014 Hamleys of Regent Street is facing a threat to its position as London’s leading toy shop – after more than 130 years – from a wealthy Middle Eastern rival. The Toy Store is to open a huge 27,000 sq ft shop on Oxford Street in the West One shopping centre next to Bond Street tube [...]
Revenues on the rise at Eclectic September 30, 2014 John Smith , the chief executive of Eclectic, the bar group behind brands including Fez and Po Na Na, said yesterday he would continue to open about two or three new sites each year to drive growth in the group. Revenues rose 11.7 per cent to £23m during the year to 29 June, up from [...]
Best of the Brokers for 1 October 2014 September 30, 2014 Best of the Brokers for 23 September 2014 ULTRA ELECTRONICS Espirito Santo has upgraded to “buy” from “neutral”, and raised the target price from 2,000p to 2,050p. The broker thinks that Ultra Electronics is well positioned to meet growing demands for its products, with good growth prospects also for its security, transport and nuclear divisions. [...]
Next’s bad weather forecast casts dark shadow on markets – London Report September 30, 2014 BRITAIN’S top share index slid yesterday, with retailers falling after Next said it would have to lower its full-year profit forecast if the unusually warm weather continued. The FTSE 100 fell 23.88 points, or 0.36 per cent, to 6,622.72 points. Britain’s Number. 2 clothing retailer’s warning sent its shares down 3.79 per cent to 6,605p while [...]
Wall St dips on poor data – New York Report September 30, 2014 US SHARES slipped yesterday, dragged down by energy and materials shares as economic data disappointed. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 28.32 points, or 0.17 per cent, to 17,042.9, the S&P 500 lost 5.51 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,972.29 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 12.46 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 4,493.39. Among [...]
Rothschild hails his Uber rival September 29, 2014 Finance family heir Nat Rothschild branched out into the tech scene yesterday, putting the finishing touches to his new black cab sharing app Maaxi at Millwall’s New Den ground. Aiming to rival car hire service Uber and taxi locator Hailo, Rothschild’s start-up lets customers share rides when they are heading in the same direction. He [...]
Hong Kong protests hit Asian markets September 29, 2014 Demonstrators thronged outside the Legislative Council in Hong Kong yesterday as the protest against the Chinese for free elections continued. The unrest has hit stocks for Asia-focused banks such as HSBC and Standard Chartered as well as miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton. It is likely to escalate tomorrow, which is China’s National Day holiday.
Investor fury at Balfour Beatty profit warning September 29, 2014 SHAREHOLDERS are angry and concerned over the latest trading update from beleaguered construction firm Balfour Beatty. The update, published yesterday, is the company’s third in five months, and revealed a £75m profit shortfall in its construction services UK business. Balfour’s share price fell by 20 per cent after the report and closed down 15.3 per [...]
Prudential boss to join 21st century board September 29, 2014 Tidjane Thiam, Prudential chief executive, has been nominated to join the board of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox (whose upcoming movie Gone Girl, pictured, featuring Ben Affleck, has received rave reviews). Thiam, circled above, said he was “delighted to be nominated”. A final decision will be made on 14 November at the firm’s annual meeting.
