Countrywide predicts rosier full-year profit January 14, 2014 COUNTRYWIDE Holdings, Britain’s largest estate agent by revenue, has said it expects to deliver a full-year profit at the top end of expectations after revenues rose by a quarter in the fourth quarter of the year. The group yesterday reported an income of £171m in the quarter to 31 December and £584.8m for the full-year, [...]
Ashmore rocked by jitters over emerging debt January 14, 2014 EMERGING market specialist Ashmore Group crashed on the stock market yesterday after it revealed an exodus of cash from funds and a cut to management charges which will reduce revenues by $25m (£16m). Shares in the company fell more than 12 per cent after it revealed that investors pulled $3.5bn from its funds in the [...]
Revenues rising for spread better IG Group as retail investors return January 14, 2014 SIGNS of economic recovery have renewed confidence among retail investors who have begun trading more, British financial spread betting firm IG Group said yesterday, as it reported an eight per cent rise in first half profit. IG chief executive Tim Howkins said market conditions in the six months to 30 November were much like the [...]
Big Yellow looks to housing uptick January 14, 2014 Big Yellow said a rise in housebuilding in London is set to boost demand for its self-storage units, though occupancy fell 2.8 per cent in the final quarter of 2013. Revenues compared to a year ago were up 6.5 per cent to £16.8m and the firm’s stores were 67.7 per cent full, up from 63.3 [...]
General Motors sales on the climb January 14, 2014 General Motors said yesterday its global sales grew four per cent in 2013 on strong demand in the world’s two largest car markets, China and the United States. Sales of the top US automaker hit 9,714,652 cars and light trucks, an increase of more than 417,000 vehicles, as demand surged 11 per cent to a [...]
MoD to spend £48m on new IT after blunders January 14, 2014 THE GOVERNMENT yesterday confirmed that it will be paying Capita £47.7m to produce a new IT platform for the Army to recruit online, despite the outsourcing firm’s troubles with running the existing programme. This is the latest high-profile gaffe to rock the Ministry of Defence, which was lambasted by the Commons defence committee yesterday for [...]
Brand Index: Ford making inroads into the huge Chinese car market January 14, 2014 THE MOTOR industry is making a roaring transatlantic comeback, enjoying some of its strongest sales in years in both Britain and America. Ford is leading the charge in sales – it was the top-selling car in both the US and UK in 2013 – but its brand could use some work outside of America, and [...]
Npower gets highest number of customer complaints once again January 14, 2014 NPOWER continued to receive the highest number of complaints of all the big six energy suppliers from July to September 2013, new research showed today. Npower received 253.1 complaints per 100,000 customers over the period, while SSE recorded the lowest rate of complaints at 32.3 per 100,000, according to data compiled by Consumer Futures. Npower [...]
Tulchan’s profit tumbles during a difficult 2013 January 14, 2014 CITY PR outfit Tulchan’s revenues tumbled more than eight per cent to £7.6m during the year to 31 March, after the firm lost clients G4S and Marks & Spencer in 2013. “This past year has been a challenging one for the firm, best characterised as trying to walk up a down escalator,” chief executive Andrew [...]
Utility switching is boost to price comparison site January 14, 2014 CONSUMERS looking for the best energy prices boosted Moneysupermarket’s trading in the fourth quarter by 16 per cent compared to the same period last year, the firm said yesterday. Full year revenues are expected to increase by around 10 per cent to £225.5m, up from £204.8m in 2012. Hikes in energy prices drove consumers to [...]
