Hermes chief stands as Labour councillor April 29, 2014 ANYONE browsing through the candidates list for the position of councillor in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea this week might be surprised to find Saker Nusseibeh, chief executive of Hermes Fund Managers, running as a Labour candidate (especially given Ed Miliband’s fairly overt distaste for hedge funds). But the famously contrarian Nusseibeh – [...]
Carphone stays quiet on merger as revenues rise April 29, 2014 MOBILE phone retailer Carphone Warehouse stayed silent yesterday on the progress of its potential £4bn merger with Dixons Retail as it posted a rise in fourth quarter revenues across its core business. The group did not comment on its talks with Dixons Retail, however discussions are understood to be progressing well with an announcement expected [...]
Samsung’s smartphones sales slide on increasing competition April 29, 2014 SAMSUNG Electronics, the division of the South Korean tech superpower responsible for smartphones and household appliances, saw profits slip 3.3 per cent during the quarter to March as its margins were squeezed by competition to its Galaxy phones. Profit from Samsung’s mobile division was 6.43 trillion won (£3.71bn), down 1.2 per cent from 6.51 trillion [...]
Telecity shares jump on 2014 growth spurt April 29, 2014 TELECITY’S shares leapt nearly 15 per cent yesterday after the British data centre operator reported a strong first quarter start to 2014. The company’s revenue grew 9.4 per cent, excluding the impact of currency changes, with strong trading reported in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Dublin. “The level of gross order wins in the UK division has [...]
Brand Index: Employees start to feel the benefits of stronger growth April 29, 2014 YESTERDAY’S GDP figures provided further evidence that the economy is firmly on the mend. The official statistics show that consumers remain at the heart of the recovery and YouGov’s Household Economic Activity Tracker shows that not only are they increasingly optimistic but they are also starting to see the upturn in their wallets. In terms [...]
Petropavlovsk slumps as debt deadlines loom April 29, 2014 PETROPAVLOVSK’S share price plunged over 14 per cent yesterday, after the FTSE 250-listed miner posted a full-year loss of $713m (£423.3m), slashed its dividend and said it had not yet secured crucial refinancing agreements. The 2013 loss compared to a $244m loss in 2012 and was largely due to impairments and write-downs from the fall [...]
Norway’s Statoil posts bumper profit due to US gas price hike April 29, 2014 NORWEGIAN energy giant Statoil posted net profit of 23.7bn krone (£2.35bn) in the first quarter, up from 6.4bn krone the previous year, beating market expectations thanks to a rise in US gas prices. Statoil is present in all the major US shale gas plays and benefited from higher demand due to an unusually cold winter. [...]
Credit check company Experian hires fresh faces for its top team April 29, 2014 EXPERIAN has announced two new faces for its top management team, following the promotion of former chief financial officer Brian Cassin to chief executive in January. Lloyd Pitchford, chief financial officer at safety service provider Intertek, will join the credit checking company in September this year as its finance boss. Jan Babiak, a former managing [...]
Utilitywise revenues skyrocket April 29, 2014 Energy consultancy Utilitywise yesterday posted a 105 per cent increase in half-year revenue to £21m and a 135 per cent rise in adjusted earnings to £5.4m, thanks to a growing customer base. It expects full-year performance to be slightly ahead of market expectations. Separately, the Aim-listed firm announced the acquisition of Icon Communication Centres, a [...]
Walker Greenbank riding high April 29, 2014 Interior furnishings company Walker Greenbank has revealed an impressive set of results for the last year, as well as strong first quarter results. For the 12 month period sales were up 3.6 per cent to £78.4m, with adjusted profit before tax up 14.9 per cent at £7.33m. Chairman Terry Stannard said: “With an improving economic [...]
