Inside Wandsworth prison April 29, 2015 Inmates at Wandsworth Prison typically wake at 7.45am, have breakfast, then spend the remainder of the day in their cells, save for a lunch break at 12.45pm and an evening meal at 4.45pm. A lucky minority of prisoners will have a job to do, however most have little to occupy their time. The south London [...]
London Stock Exchange’s US bet pays off April 29, 2015 PROFITS at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) soared in the first quarter, after its US expansion with the acquisition of the Russell firms. The bourse reported profits of £602.9m, up 79 per cent on the year. Excluding the Russell Investment Management unit which it is selling, the remainder of the busiess saw profits slip one [...]
HSBC looking for greener pastures should not surprise April 29, 2015 The sandwiches and coffee were standard fare at HSBC’s annual meeting. But it took mere minutes for political red herrings to be added to the menu. Take the bank’s confirmation it is reviewing its headquarters’ location. Labour’s attempt to blame HSBC’s action on a Conservative-inspired EU referendum was misguided, but inevitable. Douglas [...]
Investment bank Liberum reports sparkling results on record year April 29, 2015 Liberum, the employee-owned investment bank, has enjoyed a record year, with profits after bonuses of £8.2m (£0.7m the previous year) from revenues of £55m. The bank, which lost its popular chief executive Simon Stilwell earlier this year, raised a total of £1.8bn for investment banking clients. Chairman and new chief executive Shane Le Prevost said: [...]
Stagecoach on track for yearly forecast April 29, 2015 STAGEGROUP said yesterday its recent trading was in line with expectations and it is retaining its earnings guidance for the year ending today. The transport operator said like-for-like revenue grew in all its businesses, with particular strength in its London bus and UK rail operations. Stagecoach said like-for-like revenue was up 8.1 per cent in [...]
Hermes boosted by Japanese support April 29, 2015 French luxury goods maker Hermes posted an eight per cent rise in first-quarter sales yesterday, helped by strong growth in Japan. The maker of the Birkin and Kelly handbags said sales in its stores rose 10 per cent at constant currencies.
Home Retail ups Argos digital shop upgrades April 29, 2015 HOME Retail Group said yesterday that it aims to have more than 200 “digital” Argos stores by the end of the financial year after efforts to modernise its estate helped deliver a 32 per cent rise in full-year profit to £93.8m. Argos will convert between 50 to 75 of its traditional stores into the new [...]
Greggs serves up a piping hot special dividend as sales rise April 29, 2015 IN PROOF of the might of the humble sausage roll yesterday as bakery chain Greggs said like-for-like sales rose 5.9 per cent in the first 16 weeks of the year, up from 3.8 per cent on the same period in 2014. It has completed 69 shop refurbishments, and plans to refit close to 200 more stores [...]
Thorntons warns of reduced orders from supermarket buyer April 29, 2015 THORNTONS said sales were almost flat in the third quarter after a reduction in orders by one of its main supermarket buyers continued to hurt the chocolatier. The retailer, which issued a profit warning in December after unexpected cut in orders from two grocery chains and problems at its new warehouse, said sales across its [...]
Bailout secured as masked men menace Yanis April 29, 2015 GREEK finance minister Yanis Varoufakis finally managed to secure a bailout this week – courtesy of his wife, Danae. The couple were dining in the Exarchia district – a neighbourhood popular with extreme leftists and anarchists – when a masked group stormed into the restaurant. As the group approached him in a threatening manner, his [...]
