Italian luxury group Moncler eyes £2bn float November 27, 2013 MONCLER, an Italian maker of luxury fur lined puffer jackets, yesterday announced plans to float on the Milan stock exchange, hoping to replicate the success of Brunello Cucinelli, the luxury retail group that went public in early 2012. Shares in Brunello Cucinelli are up more than 200 per cent since the group’s flotation. Moncler considered [...]
Market revival sparks £63m Electra payout November 27, 2013 ELECTRA Private Equity’s 20 investment team staff are each set to receive an average payout of about £3m following a year of gains for its portfolio. This is the first time Electra has set aside carried interest provision – the share of a fund’s profits entitled to be paid to staff – since it started [...]
Compass plans further £500m share buyback November 27, 2013 COMPASS launched its third buy-back in two years yesterday as the world’s biggest catering company posted a nine per cent rise in full-year profits to £1.2bn. The FTSE 100 company, which serves one million meals a day in over 50 countries, said it would return £500m to shareholders next year, taking the total returned to [...]
Analyst Views: Did Compass’ results cater to your forecasts? November 27, 2013 KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN “Compass has again delivered solid results. New business wins combined with restructuring initiatives for its European business have helped drive performance. The firm’s cash generative nature remains highly evident, enabling both a double digit dividend increase and the announcement of a further share buy-back. WYN ELLIS NUMIS “We believe that the [...]
Hochschild surges as it swings to black on rise in gold margin November 27, 2013 FTSE 250-listed Hochschild Mining’s share price soared over seven per cent yesterday morning, after the gold and silver miner showed it had swung back into the black in the first nine months of the year. The company posted pre-tax profits of $10.3m (£6.3m) for the nine months to 30 September, up from a pre-tax loss [...]
Albemarle posts second warning as losses widen November 27, 2013 PAWNBROKER Albemarle & Bond saw its share price collapse 33 per cent yesterday after it warned that it expects to make a loss during the first five months of the year. Albemarle said that market expectations for the year are too optimistic due in part to the company’s failure to publish its 2013 annual report [...]
Nando’s opens new branches as annual profits in Britain double November 27, 2013 CHICKEN restaurant chain Nando’s has beefed up its profits in the last year after opening new branches. Accounts for Nando’s Group Holdings, the British business carrying the Nando’s name, showed turnover in the year to 24 February rose 15.6 per cent to £485.2m, while pre-tax profits more than doubled to £33.4m. Nando’s opened 30 restaurants [...]
Iceland moves back into white goods market with online tie-up November 27, 2013 FROZEN food specialist Iceland is moving back into white goods by starting an online appliances store in partnership with DRL Limited – the parent company that launched Appliances Online more than 10 years ago. Iceland stopped selling non-food products in 2009 when chief executive Malcolm Walker decided to close its in-store electricals showrooms and use the [...]
Findel narrows first half losses as its turnaround gathers pace November 27, 2013 FINDEL said yesterday that efforts to turn the business around were starting to pay off, as the home shopping group narrowed losses in the first half of the year from £6m to £400,000. Revenues increased by 5.2 per cent to £243.6m in the six months to 27 September thanks to a strong performance from Express [...]
Sale of Fresh & Easy puts end to Tesco US dream November 27, 2013 TESCO yesterday shut the door on its loss-making move into the US after completing the sale of its Fresh & Easy business to American billionaire Ron Burkle’s investment firm Yucaipa. The sale of 150 Fresh & Easy stores to Burkle’s Yucaipa cost Tesco £150m – including an £80m loan to the new business and £70m [...]
