Pinterest will bring in a buy button to app June 2, 2015 Pinterest, the online service that allows users to compile their favourite images and brands, has announced that it will introduce a new buy button on it iPhone and iPad apps in America. The company made the announcement yesterday in California. Images, known as pins. that are buyable, will have a blue price attached to it [...]
Ryanair sees the benefit of customer-friendly approach June 2, 2015 This week, I have considered the case of budget airline Ryanair. How is it that this once much- maligned brand has managed to post a leap in profits of 66 per cent to £623m, accompanied by a rise in share price of 5.4 per cent? The answer, one suspects, is in a concerted change [...]
£8.2bn tobacco lawsuit is no deterrent says City June 2, 2015 CITY investors and analysts insist that tobacco stocks are still good value for money, despite recent Canadian lawsuits totalling £8.2bn. The figure comes after the Quebec Superior Court found British American Tobacco (BAT), Rothmans B&H and JTI-MacDonald liable for moral and punitive damages in two lawsuits representing nearly one million smokers on Monday. One fund [...]
Brookfield wins race to land deal for Center Parcs June 2, 2015 CANADIAN investment giant Brookfield yesterday won a hotly contested race to buy UK holiday parks operator Center Parcs from private equity firm Blackstone in a deal worth about £2.4bn. Brookfield, which also bought Canary Wharf’s owner alongside Qatari Investment Authority earlier this year, will take control of five resorts operated by Center Parcs across the [...]
American Apparel issues its founder with restraining order June 2, 2015 IT’S A special case when the company you founded takes out a restraining order against you, but American Apparel’s relationship with founder and former boss Dov Charney is a special case. The company confirmed in a regulatory filing yesterday that it had been granted a restraining order against Charney, who was dramatically ousted from his [...]
UK construction rebounds after General Election June 2, 2015 UK CONSTRUCTION rebounded in May, new survey data show, after activity in the sector had fallen to a 22-month low in April. Markit’s construction purchasing managers’ index, a survey of firms, climbed to a score of 55.9 from April’s 54.2, according to figures published yesterday. Scores above 50 imply growth, with higher scores signifying quicker [...]
Regulator warns insurers more care needed with outsourcing June 2, 2015 THE REGULATOR yesterday hit out at insurance firms’ approach to delegated authority agreements with intermediaries and brokers, and said that better due diligence and oversight of the arrangements is needed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reviewed the outsourcing arrangements of 12 insurers operating in the UK general insurance market, and also looked at 19 firms [...]
Regional revival and New Covent Garden Market boosts St Modwen June 2, 2015 ST MODWEN posted a strong start to the year on growing momentum in the regional property market, and said that first-half profits would be “significantly ahead” of the same time last year. The FTSE 250 company, which is redeveloping Britain’s biggest flower and vegetable market, New Covent Garden in Nine Elms, said yesterday that it [...]
India cuts policy rate for third time in 2015 June 2, 2015 India’s central bank cut its main policy rate from 7.5 to 7.25 per cent yesterday – a move widely expected by analysts. It marks the third cut this year. India’s annual inflation rate was 4.9 per cent in April, below the Reserve Bank of India’s six per cent target.
British Land raises £350m via bond issue June 2, 2015 BRITISH Land, one of the UK’s biggest developers, has launched a £350m convertible bond. The senior, unsecured convertible bond, due in 2020, will be used to fund the company’s acquisition of two central London properties and future spending. British Land splashed £210m on increasing its ownership of One Sheldon Square in Paddington in April, and [...]
