Ryanair raises hopes after its profits decline May 19, 2014 RELIEVED Ryanair investors yesterday took the budget airline’s shares 10.6 per cent higher after the firm’s first fall in profits for five years was less steep than expected. The Irish airline said net profits fell eight per cent in the year to the end of March to €523m (£426m), slightly above its own prediction of [...]
Dixons Retail sells Electroworld chain ahead of Carphone tie-up May 19, 2014 DIXONS Retail is selling off its loss-making Electroworld business in central Europe ahead of its £3.7bn merger with Carphone Warehouse. The retailer said yesterday it has agreed to sell Electroworld, which has 26 stores in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, to a local rival NAY. On completion of the deal, which is expected to take [...]
UK bosses say skills shortage is biggest risk to business growth May 19, 2014 EMPLOYEE skill shortages are the largest threat to the UK economy, business leaders say. A report released by PwC this morning shows that despite a strong desire to hire, two thirds of businesses are concerned about skill shortages. Some 64 per cent of firms think that problem may hamper their expansion. It polled as the [...]
Lonmin mulls legal options to end strike May 19, 2014 LONMIN’S share price slumped by more than two per cent yesterday, after the South African platinum miner gave little reassurance that 17-week strikes would be resolved soon and confirmed that it has fired 235 essential service employees. The platinum miner, along with its two larger peers, Ampala Platinum and Impala Platinum, have collectively lost 18.5bn [...]
Shaftesbury reaps the benefits of a buoyant West End market May 19, 2014 WEST END landlord Shaftesbury enjoyed a 47 per cent jump in profits in the first half, buoyed by tourists and Londoners flocking to its restaurants and shops in the West End. The company, which owns 575 properties around Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, Soho and Charlotte Street, said pre-tax profits rose to £120.5m in the [...]
Tube says trains will run over bank holiday in spite of strike May 19, 2014 TRANSPORT for London insisted yesterday that the London Underground will continue to run over the bank holiday weekend, despite union claims that a looming strike by staff manning the power controls would halt the Tube. The Unite union met with TfL officials yesterday to try to avoid a three-day walkout in protest at pay and [...]
Game’s back in play with return to stock market May 19, 2014 VIDEO game retailer Game is to make a £400m return to the London stock market within the next month two years after it was suspended from trading and collapsed into administration. The chain is 99 per cent owned by US activist hedge fund Elliott Advisors and one per cent owned by Henry Jackson’s Opcapita, who [...]
Bottom Line: Not much can really change in two years May 19, 2014 IF INVESTORS were in any doubt that gaming is big business, they only need to scan rumour boards yesterday for their fear to be allayed. As Game announced its return to market after just two years, the tech world was rife with talk that Google is preparing a $1bn bid for Twitch – an online gaming community [...]
Deutsche Bank slips after plan to raise €8bn May 19, 2014 SHARES in Deutsche Bank slid yesterday as investors and analysts poured cold water on the lender’s plan to shore up its balance sheet with an €8bn (£6.5bn) capital raising. The German bank’s fundraising, announced late on Sunday, will see it offer €6.3bn to investors via a rights issue, in addition to €1.75bn that has already [...]
Ex-trader Jerome Kerviel turns himself in to French authorities May 19, 2014 AFTER a two day stand-off yards from the French border in Ventimiglia, convicted rogue trader Jerome Kerviel walked into France late on Sunday night and turned himself in to authorities to start serving his three-year sentence. Kerviel’s massive market bets brought French bank Societe Generale close to collapse in 2008, but the former trader has [...]
