Wood Group to slash thousands of jobs amid oil price plunge August 16, 2015 Top oil contractor Wood Group has been forced to slash thousands of jobs as tumbling commodity prices continue to ravage key North Sea producers. The FTSE 250-listed firm cut more than 4,000 jobs in six months, with at least 1,000 in Britain, its half-year results are expected to show tomorrow. Earlier this year, Wood Group [...]
London bucks trend as high street suffers August 16, 2015 HIGH street retailers and shopping centres face a growing struggle due to the shrinking number of consumers visiting their stores. Retail footfall dropped 1.1 per cent in July compared with the same month last year, according to figures released today by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard. Greater London was the only region to [...]
Wasabi returns to a profit after adding heat to expansion plans August 16, 2015 TAKEAWAY sushi and bento chain Wasabi hailed a return to profit last year after expanding its presence in the UK and launching its first outlet in New York. Accounts filed at Companies House show Wasabi Sushi Bento made a pre-tax profit of £4.26m in the year to 27 December compared with a loss of £1.15m [...]
London mayoral hopeful Andrew Boff’s radical plan for housing and transport August 16, 2015 London Assembly member Andrew Boff may be trailing in the polls behind his fellow Tory mayoral hopefuls. However, sitting down with City A.M. last week in his office in City Hall, the leader of the Greater London Authority Conservatives said he is confident he can win the open primary to be Tory candidate. “Of course [...]
Non-voting Lords have claimed £360,000 in expenses, says report August 16, 2015 Members of the House of Lords who did not vote in the last parliamentary session claimed over £100,000 in expenses, according to a new report from the Electoral Reform Society campaign organisation. Researchers found that in the past five years, non-voting peers claimed £360,000, with only 10 members responsible for just under two-thirds of the [...]
Hugo Boss expanding presence in China August 16, 2015 GERMAN fashion house Hugo Boss will expand its presence in China despite a slowdown in the country, key shareholder Gaetano Marzotto said in an interview in newspaper Welt am Sonntag. “Until now China accounts for less than 10 per cent of group sales, this could be ramped up,” Marzotto said in the interview.
Shire looks to lift $30bn bid for rival Baxalta August 16, 2015 Irish drug giant Shire Pharmaceuticals is prepared to top up its offer to woo rival Baxalta to the negotiating table on condition it is given direct access to its books, sources say. Shire made its all-stock $30bn (£19.2bn), or $45 per share, offer last month for US drug maker Baxalta, which has so far [...]
Odeon pins hopes on Star Wars and 007 to narrow 2014 losses August 16, 2015 LOSSES at cinema operator Odeon & UCI widened to £119.7m last year after a lack of blockbusters and the Fifa World Cup caused a drop in the number of people visiting its screens. The company, which is owned by Guy Hands’ private equity firm Terra Firma, said paid attendances fell by two per cent to [...]
Freeholder to join bidding war for Grainger’s German portfolio August 16, 2015 A MAJOR London property freehold owner is reportedly drawing up plans to bid for UK landlord Grainger’s German residential portfolio. Kirkmore Securities, which owns a number of mixed-use freeholds in Islington and Hampstead, is said to have approached the company via advisory group Rhino Investment Management. Grainger has appointed Lazard to sell the German portfolio, [...]
Global dividend payouts hit by stronger dollar August 16, 2015 TOTAL global payouts to shareholders have dropped in dollar terms from April to June, but underlying growth is robust, new figures show. Payouts to shareholders were 6.7 per cent lower than last year at $404.9bn (£258.8bn), according to data released today by Henderson Global Investors. However, the figure is calculated by converting dividends paid in [...]
