Bankrupt chief of finance quits Superdry owner February 25, 2015 SUPERGROUP’S finance chief Shaun Wills left his £475,000 job yesterday after admitting to the company that he had been declared personally bankrupt. Wills, a chartered accountant who joined the owner of the Superdry fashion brand in 2012, is understood to have been caught in a row with HM Revenue & Customs over an unpaid tax [...]
Former Tesco exec takes over as boss of Morrisons supermarkets February 25, 2015 MORRISONS has named former Tesco executive David Potts as its new chief executive, completing the recruitment of a triumvirate of ex-Tesco men to restore growth at the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket. Potts was Tesco’s longest serving director after beginning his career as a shelf stacker in 1973 and rising to become head of its Asian business. [...]
Spain enjoys its bull run: Green shoots emerge after years of high unemployment and recession February 25, 2015 Lee Cumbes has been helping the Spanish government to sell its bonds since the depths of its recession three years ago. It has not always been an easy sell, but he is finally confident the Spanish economy is emerging from the doldrums as investors queue up to park their money in Spanish debt. In January [...]
Consumer optimism gets boost from growth and falling prices February 25, 2015 CONSUMER confidence hit its highest level since September 2014 this month, figures today show. The consumer confidence index produced by YouGov and the Centre for Economic and Business Research ticked up to a score of 112.7 from January’s 111.3. Since 2007, the index has peaked at just over 115 and bottomed out at around 65, [...]
Peer-to-peer investor targets £200m City float February 25, 2015 PEER-TO-PEER investor VPC Speciality Lending Investments is eyeing a £200m fundraise on the London Stock Exchange when it floats shares on 17 March. The company will use the cash raised to invest in opportunities in the alternative lending market, it announced yesterday. The lender, owned by US-based Victoria Park Capital, is wooing investors with a [...]
Brit boss Cloutier applauds firm on good job for investors in 2014 February 25, 2015 INSURANCE group Brit reported a 9.8 per cent rise in written premiums for 2014, up to £1.3bn from £1.2bn. The company, which is being bought by Canadian magnate Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings for £1.22bn, also saw combined ratio worsen from 85.4 per cent to 89.5 per cent, which chief executive Mark Cloutier attributed largely [...]
Man Group profits soar in 2014 February 25, 2015 MAN GROUP, the world’s largest listed hedge fund, recorded a 62 per cent surge in adjusted profits before tax to $481m (£310m) for the financial year ended 31 December, on the back of higher performance fees and cost savings. The British fund manager also saw funds under management rocket 35 per cent to $72.9bn over [...]
The Skipton’s profits soar on mortgage spurt February 25, 2015 PROFITS jumped 75 per cent in 2014, the Skipton Building Society said yesterday, as it increased its mortgage and savings books rapidly. The UK’s fourth largest mutual reported pre-tax profits of £181.6m for the year, up from £103.2m in 2013. The Skipton attracted an extra 31,276 members, raking its total to 794,739. They helped it increase [...]
London pricing out first-time home buyers February 25, 2015 THE LONDON housing market is cooling, according to figures yesterday released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Loans to first-time buyers totalled 12,000 in number and £2.9bn in value in the three months to 31 December. It marks a drop of 11 per cent in number and seven per cent in value on the three [...]
…but lending dip may have bottomed out February 25, 2015 MORTGAGE lending may have picked up again, with approvals rising marginally in January. The number of mortgages approved for house purchase was 36,394, according to the British Bankers Association. It marks the first climb in approvals since June 2014, but approvals are down 26 per cent year-on-year. “Aspirational first-time buyers and home movers face multiple [...]
