Soaring profits at Splenda maker Tate & Lyle sweeten flat sales growth May 26, 2016 The Splenda maker posted soaring profits today that sweetened flat sales growth at the former sugar maker. The figures Tate & Lyle's unadjusted pre-tax profits rocketed from £25m to £126m, although on an adjusted basis profit before tax came in at £193m, a rise of only five per cent year on year, although in line with expectations. [...]
Pets at Home hikes dividend after strong year for luxury sales May 26, 2016 Pets at Home boosted its dividend today after posting strong sales growth in its full-year results, thanks, in part, to the continuing craze for luxury "advanced nutrition" products. The figures The pets retailer posted like-for-like sales growth of 2.1 per cent in the 53 weeks to 31 March. Food revenue growth grew at a healthy 6.4 per [...]
Brent crude price nudges above $50 for first time in 2016 May 26, 2016 The price of Brent crude oil nudged above $50 per barrel on Thursday for the first time in 2016. Brent crude had climbed as much as 0.7 per cent to $50.08 per barrel in early Asian trading, its highest since early November last year. The rise was driven by US Energy Information Administration figures released yesterday that [...]
We flush out the myths about London’s sewers May 25, 2016 As part of Thames Water's Sewer Week 2016 (yep, that's a thing), the utilities major invited the media to visit the Abbey Mills pumping station, based near West Ham and Stratford, and also offered intrepid journalists the opportunity to go down a real-life Victorian sewer at Wick Lane. London's sewage network is experiencing a major upgrade, with [...]
This is what Blackfriars will look like in 2022 after it gets a Thames Tideway Tunnel upgrade May 25, 2016 Almost all of the work on the Thames Tideway Tunnel super-sewer will take place beneath our feet and, for most of us, will go unnoticed. Not so with Blackfriars. On the northern bank of the Thames, Blackfriars Bridge will be gaining a new foreshore under the Tideway project, with a sizeable foreshore to its west and [...]
An uncomfortable truth? Tobacco shares are performing surprisingly well May 25, 2016 Earlier this week, Axa announced it will stop investing in tobacco shares on ethical grounds because of the "tragic" human cost of the cigarette industry. The world's largest insurer said it will sell its tobacco portfolio, valued at around €1.8bn (£1.4bn), in a move it also hopes will generate savings by resulting in fewer claims [...]
Wizz Air Holding’s profits take off after expansion strategy soars May 25, 2016 The largest Central and Eastern European low-cost airline, Wizz Air Holdings, took off with high profits today following a successful expansion strategy across the continent. The figures Total revenue at the airline increased 16 per cent to €1.43bn (£1.1bn) in its full-year 2016 results. The company reported underlying net profit after tax of €224m, an increase of [...]
Zoopla’s innovation strategy pays off with mega profit growth in half-year results May 25, 2016 Online property portal Zoopla continued to shrug off competition today as it released robust growth in its half-year results over the six months ended 31 March. The figures Revenues grew 130 per cent to £96.4m, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose 89 per cent to £40.5m. This followed the inclusion of six months [...]
Steel crisis: Sajid Javid and Carwyn Jones fly to Mumbai for Tata Steel board meeting May 25, 2016 Business secretary Sajid Javid has flown to Mumbai to attend a Tata board meeting to discuss final bids submitted on Monday for the steelmaker's UK operations. Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones will also attend today's meeting. City A.M. understands four bids have been submitted for the Indian steel giant's UK arm, although seven bidders advanced to the [...]
Draconian extreme pornography laws should be whipped into shape, new Adam Smith Institute report argues May 25, 2016 A think tank has called for the government to scrap its "ineffective" and "absurd" extreme pornography laws in a report released today. The new study from the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) claims the laws can be used to incriminate thousands of innocent people, particularly gay men, and are a "blunt tool" for enforcing presumed moral values [...]
