Retail industry body changes tune on rates August 14, 2013 THE BRITISH Retail Consortium (BRC) has abandoned its call to the government to freeze business rates, urging instead for next year’s rates uplift to be capped at two per cent. In a letter to retailers yesterday, Helen Dickinson, the director general of the industry body, said it would be “unrealistic” to ask HM Treasury to [...]
Boots boss Alex Gourlay to move across the pond August 14, 2013 ALLIANCE Boots’ health and beauty boss Alex Gourlay has been promoted to lead a similar division at its larger American partner Walgreens, as the two companies move closer towards a merger. Gourlay will join Walgreens as executive vice president and president of customer experience and Daily Living, starting at its Chicago headquarters in October, the [...]
Report claims BBC has a bias towards left-wing think tanks August 14, 2013 THE BBC has been accused of bias in its online reporting in a report out today that shows it is far more likely to cover reports from left-wing think tanks. A quantitative analysis of the BBC News website between 1 June 2010 and 31 May 2013 also found many left-of-centre think tanks are described as independent but right-wing [...]
Steinway sold off for £300m August 14, 2013 STEINWAY, famous for making grand pianos, yesterday accepted a takeover bid from a hedge fund that values the company to the tune of $512m (£330m). The 160-year-old firm’s board agreed the takeover with hedge fund manager John Paulson, who wants to take the company private. Although competitors still have time to launch a counter-bid many [...]
Smartphone sales overtake regular mobiles August 14, 2013 SMARTPHONES outsold more basic handsets for the first time ever in the second quarter of 2013, grabbing 51.8 per cent of worldwide mobile sales. The latest analysis of the market, from data firm Gartner, also shows that Blackberry has dropped behind Microsoft as the third most popular operating system – losing almost half of [...]
Bottom Line: A single innovation is not enough August 14, 2013 THINGS just keep getting worse for BlackBerry. After finally admitting it would be open to a sale on Monday, Bloomberg cited sources yesterday claiming execs have been quietly searching for a buyer – with no luck – for months. And now Gartner’s latest report has market share all but halving in a year, dropping [...]
Rentokil’s growth impresses despite disposal charge August 14, 2013 RENTOKIL boss Alan Brown impressed investors with his final set of results yesterday, which sent shares in the pest-killer up more than six per cent. The FTSE 250 firm said half-year revenues rose 3.7 per cent at constant currency to £1.17bn, while adjusted pre-tax profit was up 1.8 per cent at £87.66m. A [...]
Analyst Views: How is Rentokil looking as chief exec Alan Brown hands over the reins to Andy Ransom? August 14, 2013 MIKE ALLEN PANMURE GORDON The outlook statement looks positive with a pick up expected in the second half. However, we do not think this will drive consensus earnings upgrades with no pick up in Europe seemingly on the horizon. We maintain a ‘neutral’ stance on the shares. CAROLINE DE LA SOUJEOLE CANTOR FITZGERALD The [...]
China to launch a new pharmaceutical probe August 14, 2013 CHINA is intensifying its investigation into bribery in the pharmaceutical and medical services sector with a fresh three-month probe slated to begin today, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The probe by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), one of China’s anti-trust regulators, is aimed at stamping out bribery, fraud and other anti-competitive [...]
ENRC earnings hit by slump in commodities August 14, 2013 PROFITS at under-fire mining group ENRC have slumped in the first half of the year as costs rose and the value of commodities fell. The firm, which is caught up in a takeover offer from its founders as well as a Serious Fraud Office investigation, said revenues fell one per cent to $3.2bn (£2.06m) while [...]
