Door and window manufacturer Eurocell unveils London listing… February 4, 2015 EUROCELL yesterday became the latest small company to announce its intention to sell shares to public investors and list on the London Stock Exchange. The Romford-based company, which specialises in the creation of PVC windows and doors, is owned by H2 Equity Partners, a private equity group, which is looking to sell off some of [...]
…as services firm Lakehouse joins rush to float February 4, 2015 CONSTRUCTION and services group Lakehouse is launching an IPO and aims to list on the main London market in March. The Romford-based company plans to raise £30m from the offer of new shares to institutional investors. The company added that it would use the funds generated by the listing to “support the continued growth of [...]
Wizzair back on the flotation runway February 4, 2015 EASTERN European-focused budget airline Wizz Air has resurrected plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, seeking to raise €150m (£113m) to help compete with larger rival Ryanair. Hungary-based Wizz, whose rivals also include EasyJet, pulled a plan for an initial public offering last June, citing market volatility in the airline sector.
Hugo Boss sales disappoint after weak demand February 4, 2015 German fashion retailer Hugo Boss has reported lower than expected earnings, blaming sluggish consumer demand and one-off costs related to a shake-up of its Middle Eastern distribution network. In an unscheduled trading statement released yesterday, the company said pre-tax earnings edged up by one per cent in 2014 to €437m (£327.5m), compared with analyst expectations [...]
Serious Fraud Office must stay at arm’s length from government February 4, 2015 Other than their membership of the UK’s blue-chip share index, what unites Barclays, G4S, GlaxoSmithKline, Rolls Royce Holdings and Tesco? The answer is that they all feature prominently in the caseload of David Green, the director of the Serious Fraud Office. Britain’s principal white-collar crime-fighting agency has come a long way since Green inherited the [...]
Ralph Lauren slashes forecasts for second time in four months February 4, 2015 SHARES in Ralph Lauren fell by 18 per cent yesterday after the luxury fashion group cut its full-year sales forecast for the second time in four months, blaming a strong dollar and weak consumer spending. The company, whose brands include Polo Ralph Lauren, Club Monaco and American Living, said it expected sales to grow at [...]
Merck defies forex and patent headwinds to deliver profits February 4, 2015 THE COMBINATION of expiring patents, divestitures and a strong dollar helped deliver a year of mixed results for pharmaceutical giant Merck which saw profits up and revenues down leading investors to dump Merck shares which closed down 2.05 per cent. Despite a strong inventory of new drugs in the pipeline and US Food and Drug Administration [...]
UK becoming a tech nation led by London boom February 4, 2015 Brits working in the digital and technology sectors now account for 7.5 per cent of the entire UK workforce, some 1.46m people. Tech is the country’s fastest-growing occupation category. Of this growth, London’s tech cluster, which itself has seen an explosive 92 per cent growth in the number of new digital companies since 2010, is the [...]
Bargain Booze owner snaps up Yorkshire convenience retailer February 4, 2015 BARGAIN Booze owner Conviviality Retail has bought a chain of convenience stores in the East Midlands and Yorkshire for £6m as it seeks to gain a greater foothold in the region. The company, which owns hundreds of franchised off-licences and convenience stores in the UK, said yesterday it has acquired all the issued share capital [...]
Charterhouse loses seat on Card Factory board after selling stake February 4, 2015 Private equity group Charterhouse has given up a seat on the board of Card Factory after selling 40m shares in the greetings card chain to raise around £110m. Graeme Coulthard, a partner at Charterhouse who has sat on the board since it bought the retailer for £350m in 2010, stepped down as a non-executive director [...]
