BT takes on BSkyB in the battle for pay-TV with ESPN purchase February 25, 2013 BT has agreed to buy ESPN’s UK and Ireland television business as it bids to loosen BSkyB’s grip on the pay-TV sports market with the launch of its own channels. The deal, which includes the ESPN and ESPN America channels, will see BT take on ESPN’s live sports rights package in Britain and Ireland, including [...]
Arsenal profit slides as sales of players raise less revenue February 25, 2013 ARSENAL made a pre-tax profit of £17.8m according to interim accounts released yesterday – down from £49.5m a year earlier as the club raked in less from selling big name players and played four fewer home games during the period. Chairman Peter Hill-Wood used the results, which record the six months ending 30 November 2012, [...]
Spotify to offer car streaming February 25, 2013 SPOTIFY has inked a deal with Ford that will see the Swedish company’s music streaming service integrated into Ford’s vehicles. The deal is the first of its kind and marks a new area of expansion for Spotify, which has seen rapid growth in users listening on PCs and smartphones in the last few years. Ford’s [...]
Ikea meatballs rolled into horsemeat row February 25, 2013 Swedish furniture giant IKEA is the latest retailer to get caught up in the European-wide row over meat content after tests in the Czech Republic yesterday showed its meatballs contained horsemeat. IKEA halted sales in 13 European countries of the meatball batch implicated in the test. It had been available in several countries, including Britain.
Strong start to the new year for Persimmon February 25, 2013 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon yesterday reported a sharp rise in full-year profits and said its strong performance has continued into 2013, with forward sales reaching £1bn. Britain’s largest housebuilder by market value said underlying profit before tax increased by 52 per cent to £225.1m in the year to 31 December while its operating margin rose 10 per [...]
Bovis wary of false dawn in housing sector February 25, 2013 BOVIS Homes chief executive David Ritchie said the housebuilder has enjoyed a positive start to the spring selling season but cautioned against talk of a recovery in the mortgage market. Ritchie said while government measures to boost mortgage lending are beginning to work, he was cautious about “calling a false dawn” and said that mortgage [...]
Hiscox returns year-end profits to shareholders in £200m deal February 25, 2013 INSURER Hiscox yesterday announced plans to return £200m to investors after enjoying a bumper year of premium rises and few disaster-related payouts. This is almost its entire £217m year-end profit and the news pushed the company’s shares to a record high on the day that Robert Hiscox – the man who built the business from a small [...]
Primark sales boost Associated British Foods’ first half earnings February 25, 2013 ASSOCIATED British Foods (ABF) said an “outstanding” performance from the conglomerate’s budget fashion chain Primark will help lift first-half profits ahead of the £412m reported last year. The FTSE 100 group expects Primark sales to be up 23 per cent in the six months to 2 March, with like-for-like sales anticipated to be seven per [...]
Analyst Views | Did Persimmon’s full year results meet your expectations? February 25, 2013 ROBIN HARDY PEEL HUNT Good margin growth in the second half is likely to edge up forecasts, only modestly, but still showing that growth and high income are possible in this sector. We still prefer to see the UK house builders making high distributions, and Persimmon ticks this box very strongly. KEITH BOWMAN HARGREAVES LANSDOWN [...]
Domino’s sales snowed in after record profits February 25, 2013 INVESTORS lost their appetite for Domino’s Pizza shares last night despite the company posting record full-year profits, after heavy snow hit UK sales at the start of 2013. The group said 498 stores – almost two-thirds of its UK portfolio – were forced to close at some point in January because of the heavy snow [...]
