Unemployment hits 17-year high in October December 14, 2011 The number of Britons out of work rose to its highest level in more than 17 years in the three months to October, although the pace of new benefit claims appears to be levelling off, official data showed on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said that the number of people out of work in [...]
Inditex sales growth slows in tough market December 14, 2011 Sales growth at Spain’s Inditex, the world’s largest clothing retailer and owner of the Zara label, moderated in the third quarter as the euro zone debt crisis crimped spending in the region. The company, founded by Spain’s richest man Amancio Ortega, posted a 9.5 per cent rise in sales growth on for the third quarter [...]
Betfair earnings boosted by football season December 14, 2011 Betfair Group reported first half core earnings at the top end of expectations, driven by a good start to the football season for the world’s largest betting exchange and rises in the number of customers and the value of bets. Betfair, founded 10 years ago by one-time professional gambler Andrew Black and former JP Morgan [...]
TUI to post full-year profit December 14, 2011 Germany’s TUI, owner of Europe’s largest tour operator TUI TraveL, said it expects to post a net profit in its current fiscal year as it passes on rising input costs to holidaymakers and weathers strong economic headwinds. Turnover and operating earnings will grow moderately in the twelve months through the end of September, it said. [...]
Thomas Cook to close 200 shops December 14, 2011 Thomas Cook reported a worse than expected decline in full-year operating profit and said it would close 200 of its underperforming shops in Britain, as it looks to reduce its debt and restore confidence among investors. Europe’s second biggest travel firm by sales, which secured a rescue package from its banks last month, said the [...]
Petrofac ups profits guidance to 20pc December 13, 2011 British oil services firm Petrofac upped its profit guidance for this year and said a $10.6bn (£6.7bn) order backlog gave it the confidence to predict strong growth in 2012. Petrofac, which designs and builds oil and gas infrastructure and also invests with producers in oil fields, said it expected to report like-for-like 2011 net profit [...]
Inflation falls to 4.8pc December 13, 2011 The (CPI) inflation figure in the UK fell to 4.8 per cent in November, down from five per cent the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation – which includes mortgage interest payments – fell to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent. The fall was partly due [...]
Whitbread sales growth slows in tough economy December 13, 2011 Britain’s biggest hotel operator WhitbreaD said its sales growth had slowed in the third quarter as tough economic conditions kept customers away from its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee shops, which had previously proved resilient. The group, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurant chains, said on Tuesday sales at outlets [...]
Thomas Cook sells Spanish chain for £61m December 13, 2011 Thomas Cook said it had sold its Spanish hotel chain Hotels Y Clubs De Vacaciones (ICV) to Grupo Iberostar for 72.2 million euros (£61m) as part of its plans to cut debt. HCV is being sold with net debt of 22.4m euros so the transaction will reduce Thomas Cook’s net debt by 94.6m euros. “We [...]
Switzerland cuts growth forecast December 13, 2011 The Swiss government has reduced its 2012 growth forecast, saying the Eurozone crisis had taken its toll. The forecast growth rate was cut from 0.9 per cent to 0.5 per cent. But the country is not expected to lunge into recession.
