Scottish independence: Obama urges voters to say no – and tells the UK to stay in EU June 5, 2014 BRITAIN would be stronger if it remains united than if Scotland votes to leave in the summer referendum, US President Barack Obama said yesterday. In a joint press conference with David Cameron, Obama also urged Britain to stay in the EU. “We must make sure the UK stays united,” Obama said, while making clear it was a [...]
Plunge in staff availability as UK jobs surge June 5, 2014 THE RAPID recovery in the UK’s labour market still shows no signs of slowing down, according to a new report, with the availability of permanent employees dropping at the fastest rate in 17 years. The latest research on jobs conducted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and KPMG indicates the fastest drop in availability [...]
Suitors line up for Bonhams as outfit goes under the hammer June 5, 2014 A HANDFUL of private equity suitors have submitted first round bids for 220-year-old British auction house Bonhams, after the firm opted for a sale over a stock market float. Up to six firms are understood to have submitted bids for the company, including offers from the UK arm Mitt Romney-founded Bain Capital, as well as [...]
Twitter buys ad specialist Namo Media June 5, 2014 TWITTER has acquired Namo Media, a mobile advertising firm, in a move to bolster its revenues in the face of growing investor unease surrounding its growth prospects. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Namo Media said in a blog post that its technology would be rolled into MoPub, the ad serving platform that [...]
Bottom Line: Everyone loves a sale – and Asos shares are in middle of a big one June 5, 2014 ALMOST every other day, Asos customers are sent promo emails alerting them to the latest offer on the retailer’s vast fashion website: 25 per cent off dresses; save on festival fashion; free delivery on men’s hats. Yesterday, the tables were turned. Investors hit the sell button on Asos shares, sending them into freefall to end [...]
Game on track for £360m float as book covered June 5, 2014 HIGH street video game retailer Game will push the button on an initial public offering in the coming days with its book covered by predominantly long only institutions. Shares are expected to be priced between 200p and 212p giving the firm an initial market valuation somewhere between £340m and £360m post the £20m that will [...]
Burberry boss Bailey aims for £10.3m payout June 5, 2014 BURBBERY confirmed yesterday that its new chief executive Christopher Bailey was handed a golden hello in shares worth up to £7.6m that could take his total pay package to over £10m. The luxury brand’s annual report out yesterday revealed that Bailey is receiving a basic salary of £1.1m plus a spending allowance of £440,000 and [...]
Asian buyers fall out of love with Prada products June 5, 2014 ITALIAN luxury fashion house Prada announced yesterday that its first quarter sales fell amid a spending slowdown by Chinese tourists in Europe, coupled with unstable exchange rates. The brand said that net income for the three-month period ending 31 April fell 24 per cent to €105.3m (£85.5m), missing analysts’ estimates of €129.7m. The high-end fashion [...]
British homes gained £7,000 in value in May June 5, 2014 THE UPSWING in house prices shows little sign of slowing according to the Halifax, with a typical house adding 8.7 per cent to its value in the period between May 2013 and last month – and gaining around £7,000 in the last month alone. The Halifax index suggests that UK house prices are now back to [...]
Zoopla looks to £1bn valuation in share issue June 5, 2014 ONLINE property website Zoopla yesterday gave an indicative price range of 200p to 250p for its impending share issue – giving the firm a valuation of between £833m and £1bn. Investors in the business, which says it has about 40m visitors per month, are expected to sell between one third and a half of the [...]
