Alexis Tsipras: Lenders want Greece to return to growth June 10, 2015 Greece’s Prime Minister emerged from another round of crunch talks with the country’s creditors in the early hours of this morning, insisting that his fellow leaders are leaning towards his way of thinking. Alexis Tsipras met with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande in Brussels and when he left the building he insisted the German and [...]
North Sea firms forced to slash projects in face of low oil price June 10, 2015 Over two-thirds of North Sea oil firms have been forced to scrap projects due to plummeting oil prices over the past year, a new report reveals today. Although the price of benchmark Brent crude has rallied in the last few days, trading yesterday at around $66 a barrel, it has yet to approach the level [...]
Business says PM is giving the wrong answer on immigration June 10, 2015 Business groups roundly rejected the Prime Minister’s latest proposals to cut migration, saying they were “not the answer,” “far less business-friendly” and a “red herring” in the immigration debate. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Cameron said that the independent Migration Advisory Committee (Mac) was looking at proposals to cut non-European work migration, including [...]
Krispy Kreme cooks up first-quarter profit June 10, 2015 Krispy Kreme doughnuts yesterday announced a profit of $10.7m (£6.8m) for the first three months of 2015. Revenue was $132.5m, missing projections of $136m. US same-store sales rose 2.3 per cent. Shares in the firm closed up 0.69 per cent at $17.40, with shares in New York rising by as much as five per cent in [...]
Malcolm Walker’s many lives: How Iceland hopes to fight off profit slump June 10, 2015 Malcolm Walker has more business lives than a cat. He built his frozen food empire Iceland from a humble shop in Shropshire in 1970 into a £2bn turnover business 30 years later, before hitting a financial iceberg. Walker was forced to step down as chairman in 2001 after the Financial Services Authority launched an [...]
Sainsbury’s shares rise as Coupe insists store strategy is working June 10, 2015 SHARES in Sainsbury’s rallied yesterday as the supermarket chain insisted it was seeing “encouraging signs” of recovery, despite reporting its sixth consecutive quarter of declining underlying sales. Britain’s third-largest grocer said total sales fell 0.6 per cent, while sales at stores open more than a year fell by 2.1 per cent, excluding fuel, in the [...]
Heathrow or Gatwick runway expansion? Business groups slam delay over airports action June 10, 2015 Politicians must act quickly to implement the recommendations of the Airports Commission or risk being accused of dithering, business groups said yesterday, hitting out at reports that it could be early 2016 before any government action is taken. The commission, overseen by ex-City watchdog Sir Howard Davies, has been looking into the state of [...]
Zara owner Inditex the height of fashion with a 28pc profit jump June 10, 2015 INDITEX, the owner of fashion chains Zara and Massimo Dutti, has posted a 28 per cent increase in net profit for the first quarter. The Spanish group’s revenue rose by 17 per cent to €4.37bn (£3.18bn), aided by the weakness of the euro. Net profit rose to €521m in the first quarter, against expectations of [...]
Profits at Shoe Zone worn thin by weather June 10, 2015 SHOE Zone suffered a 26 per cent decline in sales in the first half of the year, blaming planned store closures and last Autumn’s warm weather for weaker sales. The family-run discount footwear chain, which floated on Aim last year, revealed yesterday that pre-tax profits decreased to £2m in the six months to 4 April [...]
Free enterprise MPs calling for end to the BBC’s licence fee June 10, 2015 A NEW book from a group of pro-market Conservative MPs is calling for an end to the BBC licence fee. Author Kwasi Kwarteng, the MP for Spelthorne, outlines an alternative Tory manifesto. Beyond scrapping licence fees, Kwarteng also suggests regionalising the minimum wage, replacing the jobseeker’s allowance with a repayable loan, breaking up National Rail [...]
