Albemarle and Bond crashes as cash deal flops October 2, 2013 PAWNBROKER Albemarle & Bond saw its share price collapse nearly 60 per cent yesterday after it admitted that efforts to agree a cash injection from its biggest shareholder had failed. Britain’s second largest pawnbroker, which has been hammered by falling gold prices, said it was now in talks with its banks on options to remedy [...]
Shares drop as hot summer hits same store sales at Dunelm Group October 2, 2013 HOMEWARES retailer Dunelm Group reported a five per cent fall in first-quarter like-for-like sales yesterday as fewer people visited its stores during one of Britain’s hottest summers. The company, which sells bedding, curtains, furniture and home utility items, said there was a significant decline in like-for-like sales in the first four weeks from 30 June. [...]
Mobile Streams’ stock hit as cash remains trapped in Argentina October 2, 2013 SMARTPHONE content retailer Mobile Streams, chaired by media entrepreneur Roger Parry, said yesterday its annual profits doubled in 2013 to £4.8m following huge growth in the company’s Latin America operations. But the company’s share price fell over 10 per cent as Mobile Stream’s cash in Argentina, some 73 per cent of the company’s total, remains [...]
Deloitte asks for leave to appeal its £14m fine for MG Rover work October 2, 2013 DELOITTE has launched an appeal against its £14m fine for failing to properly handle conflicts of interest when working with MG Rover. “We recognise the general desire to move on from this case but do not agree with the main conclusions of the tribunal which we feel could create significant uncertainty for individual members and [...]
Retail survival rates dwindling after high street administrations October 2, 2013 JUST over 2,000 out of 2,850 shops have been shut this year after 15 major retailers collapsed into administration, new figures out yesterday by FRP Advisory show. Research by the restructuring firm shows that a shop’s survival rate has worsened in the first nine months of the year to 29 per cent compared with a [...]
Marc Jacobs bows out of Louis Vuitton October 2, 2013 MARC Jacobs, the star designer who turned Louis Vuitton from a staid luggage-maker into one of the world’s biggest luxury brands, is leaving to focus on his own label. Jacobs’ departure after 16 years comes as Louis Vuitton, which built its name and profitability on LV-embossed bags, has been suffering from cooling demand in Asia [...]
A2Dominion launches retail bond October 2, 2013 Social housing group A2Dominion became the latest company in the sector yesterday to tap the public market for cash after launching a retail bond. The company hopes to raise around £140m from the unsecured sterling bond, which has a coupon of 4.75 per cent and is due in 2022. One of the UK’s largest housing [...]
Quintain sells regional portfolio October 2, 2013 Quintain Estate, the property developer behind two vast regeneration schemes in Greenwich and Wembley, said yesterday it has sold its regional investment property for £39m as it looks to strengthen its focus on the London market. Palace Capital, an AIM-listed firm, has conditionally exchanged contracts to buy SeQuel, along with an additional property, Gelderd Point [...]
Taylor Wimpey merges pensions October 2, 2013 Taylor Wimpey yesterday announced it has successfully merged two legacy pension schemes to create the Taylor Wimpey Pension Scheme, helping to save £800,000 in costs per year. The housebuilder said it merged the George Wimpey Staff Pension Scheme and the Taylor Woodrow Group Pension & Life Assurance Fund to create the single new scheme with [...]
Research shows no Asian crisis repeat on cards October 2, 2013 TWO NEW reports released yesterday suggest that despite a squeeze on emerging markets over the summer, talk of a crisis in developing economies is overblown. The Asian Development Bank’s most recent outlook report, released yesterday, cut its growth forecast for Asian countries in 2013 to six per cent, down from 6.6 per cent in April’s [...]
