Clarks shoes making great strides abroad May 19, 2014 BRITISH shoe retailer Clarks has put its best foot forward at home and abroad in the last year, with tie-ups and sales growth in most countries giving its profits a boost. For the year to the end of January, C&J Clark Limited posted £1.54bn in revenues, up 5.5 per cent on the prior year. Pre-tax [...]
Glencore’s plan to appoint new female director comes too late May 19, 2014 GLENCORE Xstrata is set for a shareholder attack at today’s annual meeting, as it remains the only FTSE 100 company without a woman on its board. A number of major institutional investors are expected to oppose the miner trader’s annual report. Earlier this month, the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, which represents 60 UK public [...]
Vodafone divi takes payouts to new record May 19, 2014 VODAFONE’S world record dividend payout to investors took global payments to a new high last quarter, as ongoing unrest in Ukraine slashed dividends at Russian firms by more than a half, new research claims. The telecoms giant made a special $26bn (£14.5bn) payment to investors on the back of its Verizon Wireless deal, taking the [...]
Flotation frenzy adds new faces to 2014 Rich List May 19, 2014 THIS year’s swathe of initial public offerings (IPOs) has brought some fresh meat to the Sunday Times Rich List, with the founders of Boohoo.com, AO.com and King all joining the monied pack. AO.com founder John Roberts enters the list at 246th, with a wealth stack of £410m. Boohoo.com founder Mahmud Kamani is a new entry [...]
M&S braced for a third year of falling profits May 19, 2014 MARKS & Spencer boss Marc Bolland is tomorrow expected to flag the beginning of a new era for the retailer, marked by improved margins and increased shareholder returns, despite a third year of falling profits. The 130-year-old firm is expected by analysts to report a 7.5 per cent decline in full-year pre-tax profits from £665m [...]
Fewer shoppers in April despite Easter weekend May 19, 2014 BRITISH retailers have reported a shock drop in the number of shoppers heading into stores this April, with figures suggesting lower foot traffic despite the effect of a late Easter. Figures released this morning by Springboard and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show that footfall dropped 0.1 per cent last month, when compared to April [...]
Beijing releases nine point plan to increase China’s ailing growth May 19, 2014 THE CHINESE government unveiled a package of policies designed to jump start the country’s slowing growth this weekend, with the liberalisation of finance among the top priorities. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced nine priorities to reorganise the changing economy. The Commission is pushing for further reforms to China’s state-owned enterprises, increasingly allowing [...]
Weaker pressure on essential spending boosts UK consumers May 19, 2014 CONSUMERS are feeling increasingly less pressured by rising prices of consumer essentials, with inflation ebbing to lower levels. According to Lloyds’ latest report on UK spending, the amount shoppers are having to shell out for essential items is up by less than one per cent from last April, the second straight month in which the [...]
Could City deals bloom with the Chelsea flowers? May 19, 2014 ANYONE hoping to see Pfizer boss Ian Read at the notorious deal-making Chelsea Flower Show (CFS) will be disappointed to hear he is back in the US and will not make tonight’s preview evening. Clearly, with his latest AstraZeneca move already made, Read chooses to bid from the boardroom rather than from amid the bulbs. [...]
Monitise triumph in O2 Rugby challenge May 19, 2014 HAVING ex-rugby player Alastair Lukies as your founder and counting ex-pros such as Matt Perry as employees makes for a formidable corporate rugby team, as Monitise proved by winning the O2 Touch Rugby challenge at Twickenham last week. They beat the likes of City of London Police and Santander to take the title. The winning [...]
