British American Tobacco bets on e-cigarettes as sales grow July 31, 2013 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) said yesterday it would move rapidly to expand its presence in the electronic cigarette market around the world after launching its first product in the UK earlier this week. The world’s second-largest cigarette maker, whose premium brands include Kent, Dunhill, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall, launched online sales of Vype on [...]
Diageo focus on premium liquor helps sales rise July 31, 2013 DIAGEO, the world’s biggest drinks company, yesterday reported a jump in full year sales, as price rises and growth in the US spirits market helped offset a slowdown in Asia, Nigeria and Brazil. Net sales grew five per cent in the year to the end of June, which was slightly above forecasts of 4.8 [...]
Analyst Views: Did Diageo’s full-year results meet your expectations? July 31, 2013 CARL SHORT | S&P EQUITY RESEARCH “Diageo’s results were broadly in line with our forecasts… Organic volume growth was one per cent, constrained by a decline in Diageo’s Western Europe region but sales price/mix rose by 3.8 per cent organically with good improvements in emerging markets and in North America. ALICIA FORRY | CANACCORD [...]
Business mulls one year of FLS July 31, 2013 ONE YEAR ago today, the Bank of England launched its funding for lending scheme (FLS), with the intention of spurring loan activity. Aside from a boost to the mortgage market, which has been partly attributed to FLS, lending to firms remains anaemic. Though interest rates have dropped, Vicky Redwood, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, [...]
Jitters over Google competition dent Moneysupermarket shares July 31, 2013 PRICE comparison firm Moneysupermarket.com saw its share price plummet over 14 per cent yesterday, after potential competition from Google spooked investors. Seeking a slice of the lucrative UK price comparison market, the search engine giant has changed its search functions, lowering Moneysupermarket’s placement in favour of Google’s comparison site. In its half-year results, Moneysupermarket blamed [...]
Siemens picks Kaeser as new chief July 31, 2013 German engineering group Siemens yesterday named finance chief Joe Kaeser as its new boss after dumping chief executive Peter Loescher four years before the end of his contract, following a second profit warning this year. Kaeser, 56, will start tomorrow in his new task of turning around Germany’s second-biggest company by market value and a [...]
Great Portland makes £61m sale July 31, 2013 Great Portland Estates (GPE) has sold 90 Queen Street on the corner of Cheapside in the City for £61m. The west end-focused developer said yesterday that it has exchanged contracts to sell the office building to a vehicle owned by German fund manager Warburg-Henderson. The 68,438 square feet property is mainly let to the Brazilian [...]
Topshop gets shirty over loss of Rihanna case July 31, 2013 POPSTAR Rihanna yesterday came out tops in her High Court legal battle against Arcadia – the owner of high street retailer Topshop. The case was brought by RiRi – who used her real name Robyn Rihanna Fenty – because of an image of the star that Topshop used on its Rihanna tank t-shirt, which was [...]
Pop-up yoga on City rooftop July 31, 2013 LOCAL frequenters of Square Mile watering holes will already be familiar with Madison, the rooftop bar at the One New Change shopping centre. However, most City boozers were unlikely to be found there after a hard day’s work, doing the downward dog – until very recently. The Capitalist hears that City fitties are now working out [...]
Hugo Boss sales rise outside China July 31, 2013 German fashion house Hugo Boss joined luxury rivals in reporting a rise in second-quarter sales as shoppers in the United States and Japan helped to offset what it termed a “still challenging” market in mainland China. Hugo Boss reported second-quarter sales up 11 per cent on a currency-adjusted basis to €532m (£464m) and underlying earnings [...]
