What’s in a name? May 15, 2014 WHEN this big retail merger is finalised, the combined group will be known as Dixons Carphone. But why are they hanging onto the Carphone bit when no-one has one anymore? The first car phone was used in St Louis on 17 June 1946. It had three channels and weighed 36kg. Six years ago, analog cellular service, [...]
Bottom Line: Internet of things has no room for tradition May 15, 2014 LAST month, my aunt and uncle upgraded their Aga. The new model fits perfectly into their country kitchen – a tasteful pastel exterior and exposed, rustic hob – but there’s one big difference: this is an iAga, which can be controlled remotely by text or from a laptop (it even replies to tell you it’s [...]
Uber app joins $10bn club with new fundraising May 15, 2014 Innovative car hire app Uber is set to hit a valuation of $10bn (£6bn) in its latest round of funding as the company looks to raise less than $1bn from new private equity investors. The San Francisco-based startup, whose iOS and Android app offers smartphone users the ability to book a car in 113 cities [...]
Inside Track: Wanted: Wise old heads for the latest flood of City deals May 15, 2014 WHEN Astrazeneca recently got wind of Pfizer’s intention to make a contentious £63bn bid, it hastily assembled two bulge bracket investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to oversee its defence. As if that weren’t enough it also instructed Evercore, one of the many boutique investment banks that are famed for their independence and sector [...]
France passes new law to block foreign takeovers amid GE row May 15, 2014 FRANCE’S economics minster announced a new law to block foreign corporate takeovers in the country yesterday, amid a growing row over the General Electric Alstom deal. Arnaud Montebourg revealed powers for state approval of takeover deals, calling the policy a “choice of economic patriotism”. But France may already have fallen foul of European law, as [...]
Land Securities slams Labour’s rent policy plan May 15, 2014 LABOUR’S plans to overhaul the private rented sector would “put the brakes” on the housing market recovery, the chief executive of Land Securities has warned as the UK’s largest landlord reported a near 10 per cent uplift in profits. Rob Noel, the boss of the £12bn property firm whose developments include the Walkie Talkie skyscraper, [...]
Homebuying faster than building May 15, 2014 PRESSURE mounted further on Britain’s strained housing market yesterday as a raft of new data showed home purchases soaring at a far higher pace than house building. Mortgage lending jumped by 17.4 per cent in the year to March, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The rise means 50,500 mortgages were advanced in the [...]
Asda returns to sales growth as price cuts kick in May 15, 2014 SUPERMARKET giant Asda said yesterday it had returned to underlying sales growth in its first quarter as price-cuts started to attract thrifty shoppers. Asda, which trails market leader Tesco by annual sales and is vying with Sainsbury’s to be the UK’s no2 grocer, said like-for-like sales rose 0.1 per cent in the 15 weeks to [...]
Alliance Boots boosted by new Walgreen partnership synergies May 15, 2014 HEALTHCARE giant Alliance Boots, owner of the high street Boots stores, has found more synergies than expected so far with American pharmacy chain Walgreen, as it posted a 18.5 per cent rise in underlying profit yesterday. The firm reported sales for the year to March that rose 4.3 per cent to £23.4bn, with £840m in [...]
Ovo increases its bills by 3pc May 15, 2014 INDEPENDENT supplier Ovo Energy yesterday said it would be raising its prices for new and renewing customers by three per cent, due to a spike in wholesale prices in April. The average annual dual fuel bill will now cost £1,028. The Ukraine crisis caused gas prices to rise temporarily, due to concerns that Russia would [...]
