Just Retirement shares get off to sluggish start November 12, 2013 SHARES in Just Retirement, the annuity and equity release provider majority owned by private equity group Permira, traded at slightly below issue price yesterday as the market drew comparisons with rival Partnership. Partnership, which floated in June, saw its shares soar to a hefty premium after joining the public markets only to see sentiment turn [...]
John Lewis to open at Westfield London November 12, 2013 JOHN Lewis confirmed plans yesterday to open a new store in Shepherd Bush’ s Westfield shopping mall. The new John Lewis, the partnership’s fifth in London, will anchor the 600,000 square feet extension planned for Westfield London, due to open in 2017.
Santander fears tough leverage rules could make banks riskier November 12, 2013 THE TOUGHER cap on leverage favoured by politicians could make banks riskier, not safer as intended, Santander’s UK retail boss warned yesterday. A group of MPs and peers has been pushing for a four per cent leverage cap, a tighter limit than the three per cent currently in place. Lenders like Nationwide, which specialises in mortgages, [...]
New Look chief says IPO at least 12 months away November 12, 2013 NEW LOOK chief executive Anders Kristiansen yesterday poured cold water on rumours that the group was planning a return to market, stating that an initial public offering could be at least a year away. The last months have seen a wave of public listing including Bargain Booze owner Conviviality Retail, with retailers Bonmarche and Poundland [...]
Heathrow’s Terminal 2 to get a taste of Blumenthal’s cooking November 12, 2013 BRITAIN’S best rated chef Heston Blumenthal will open a new restaurant at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 next June, serving up dishes like fish and chips, Heathrow said yesterday. The outlet will open in the new £2.5bn terminal, dubbed The Queen’s Terminal, and follows on from Heathrow’s last major renovation Terminal 5. “We spent hours researching the [...]
TV succeeding for TalkTalk despite losses November 12, 2013 TALKTALK fell into the red during the six months to 30 September as the telecoms operator invested in new customer growth and yesterday dismissed battles over TV sports rights as “not our fight”. The strategy appears to have been successful. TalkTalk boasted yesterday an additional 167,000 TV customer signups in the last quarter alone, putting [...]
BP signs a key oil trade deal with Rosneft November 12, 2013 RUSSIAN oil behemoth Rosneft said yesterday is plans to sell about $6bn (£3.7bn) worth of refined products to BP, establishing the British firm among its biggest buyers after years without any such deal. The latest transaction comes on top of a $5.3bn deal for BP to buy crude, agreed earlier this year. Both came only [...]
Emirates profits stagnate as fuel and currency movements strike November 12, 2013 HIGH fuel costs and weak currencies in some key markets kept a lid on first-half profit growth at Dubai’s flagship airline Emirates, signalling Gulf carriers are not immune to the pressures on the industry despite rising passenger numbers. Emirates profits have surged in the last couple of years on the back of new routes and [...]
American and US air merger gets clearance November 12, 2013 US AIRWAYS and American Airlines will give low-cost competitors more access to a half dozen key US airports, including New York and Washington DC, in exchange for permission to merge and create the world’s largest airline. The agreement announced yesterday settles a government lawsuit filed in August that argued that US Airways and AMR, parent [...]
Business crowd awarded with Geldof’s rant November 12, 2013 BOB GELDOF, former Boomtown Rats singer and anti-poverty campaigner, spoke about the role of business in society at the National Business Awards in London last night Geldof did not appear to feel pressured to play to the audience, saying that the leadership of the business community was vital, “when it’s not at its filthiest self, [...]
