French court slaps €10m penalty on Ryanair in worker base case October 2, 2013 RYANAIR yesterday vowed to appeal after a French court imposed penalties totalling almost €10m (£8m) on the airline for breaching labour laws. The budget carrier was fined €200,000 and ordered to pay €9m to cover three years of backdated taxes and pension contributions for staff based in Marseille but employed on Irish contracts. Ryanair closed [...]
Analyst Views: Has Domino’s kept the fire going under third quarter sales? October 2, 2013 KARL BURNS PANMURE GORDON“The update is better than expected, despite the warm weather and despite a pretty tough trading environment. The hangover in Germany is known about now and apart from maybe a lack of performance on new openings, trading is pretty strong across all aspects of the business. WAYNE BROWN CANACCORD GENUITY“In a retail [...]
Oriel hires key team from Nomura Code October 2, 2013 ORIEL Securities, the City broking firm, yesterday beefed up its advisory offering and promoted its top equity head to deputy chief executive. The firm has taken on a healthcare and cleanteach team from UK brokerage Nomura Code, headed by Juliet Thompson. In total the team boasts three equity professionals and three corporate financiers. Separately, Eithne [...]
Bridgepoint munches down on Polish biscuit maker Dr Gerard October 2, 2013 PRET A Manger owner Bridgepoint yesterday snapped up a Polish biscuit maker in a bid to capitalise on Poland’s increasingly sweet tooth. Dr Gerard, which started life making gingerbread in the Polish town of Ozarow 20 years ago, will come under the financial control of Bridgepoint after the UK-based private equity group agreed to buy [...]
Spotlight on Financial Fair Play in Football: Giant-killing lawyer sets sights on Euro regulators October 2, 2013 A COURTROOM battle that threatens to derail European football’s new Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules before they have had a chance to change the sport’s landscape is set to start today. Ground-breaking Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who irrevocably altered the transfer system by winning the Bosman ruling in 1995, is leading a challenge to FFP’s [...]
Moshi Monsters firm hopes to branch out October 2, 2013 THE COMPANY behind the Moshi Monsters games is sizing up expansion through new devices and brands as well as overseas after posting a 63 per cent surge in annual revenues. Mind Candy posted revenues of £46.9m for 2012, two thirds of which was made in the UK, while pre-tax profits rose from £9.8m to £10.1m. [...]
Permira partner payment pot falls slightly October 2, 2013 PARTNERS at private equity firm Permira shared a smaller pot of cash from UK operations this year after fee revenues fell, new accounts show. The amount of money available for remuneration of the 16 partners fell to £21.94m for the year ending 2012 from £25m in 2011. It follows a similar fall in turnover from [...]
Major contract loss at Wolfson October 2, 2013 BLACKBERRY semiconductor supplier Wolfson Microelectronics saw its share price plummet yesterday as it warned that cancellations from one of its major customers could affect its fourth quarter results. The FTSE 250 company said its third quarter results due on 29 October would be in line with expectations. However, nervous investors sent Wolfson’s share price down [...]
Electronic part supplier boost October 2, 2013 ELECTRONIC parts supplier Electrocomponents reported a one per cent growth in first-half underlying sales yesterday, helped by growth in businesses outside the UK, particularly in North America and continental Europe. The company, whose products range from cellphone accessories to thermometers, said international businesses sales rose three per cent in North America and continental Europe, while [...]
Third Point in Sotheby’s row October 2, 2013 ACTIVIST investor Daniel Loeb’s Third Point has called on Sotheby’s chief executive to step down after the hedge fund became Sotheby’s largest shareholder. Third Point – which last month campaigned unsuccessfully for Sony to spin off part of its entertainment division – holds a 9.3 per cent stake in the brokers and said it would [...]
