BA guarantees all flights even in face of strike July 7, 2010 BRITISH Airways will be able to guarantee all of its flights should there be any new strike action, the company’s chief executive Willie Walsh has promised. “If in case of a strike 100 per cent of flights will, as we believe, be guaranteed, British (Airways) will not only not lose money it will end up [...]
3i in earnings boost as client funds rise July 7, 2010 London-listed private equity firm 3i Group said its deal pipeline is picking up as financing conditions improve and trading stabilises, helping boost earnings at its own portfolio companies. Investments over the three months to end totalled £105m, including a £35m investment in French healthcare company Vedici. Proceeds from company sales were £79m, down from £163m [...]
M&S sales up but Bolland urges caution July 7, 2010 MARKS and Spencer posted a third consecutive rise in underlying quarterly sales, though its rate of improvement slowed a little and it joined rivals in sounding cautious about the consumer outlook. The company said sales at British stores open at least a year rose 3.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 3 July. That [...]
Car sales jump 10.8 per cent July 6, 2010 UK new car sales rose 10.8 per cent in June compared with the same month last year, industry figures have shown. The rise came despite the end of the scrappage scheme. A total of 195,226 new cars were sold in June, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. In the six months from [...]
Punch on track thanks to World Cup and sunshine July 6, 2010 BRITIAN’S biggest pubs firm Punch Tavern said it was on track to meet full-year expectations as trading was boosted by hot summer weather and the World Cup. The company, which has over 7,100 pubs, said trading during the World Cup had been brisk, helping sales at pubs open for more than a year grow in [...]
Persimmon sees house sales rise July 6, 2010 HOUSEBUILDER Persimmon said total house sales and completions rose in the first half, despite slipping in recent months on election and budget uncertainty. The company, the UK’s largest housebuilder by market value, said legal completions in the first half increased by 16 per cent to 4,657 homes year-on-year, with the average selling price rising by [...]
Ocado sets £1.2bn valuation for listing July 6, 2010 ONLINE grocer Ocado is aiming for a valuation of over £1bn in its planned initial public offering (IPO), despite turbulent markets and scepticism among some analysts and investors. The firm, which announced plans last month to raise £200m in a stock market listing, said on it would price its shares at between 200 pence and [...]
N Brown sales growth slows July 6, 2010 HOME shopping group N Brown posted a slowdown in underlying sales growth in its second quarter as its customers assessed the likely impact on their finances of the new coalition government’s policies. The firm, which targets older and larger customers, said its like-for-like sales increased 0.1 percent in the 18 weeks to July 3. That [...]
Services sector growth slows July 5, 2010 THE services sector grew last month at its slowest rate for 10 months, held back by subdued new business and a record monthly drop in confidence, a survey said yesterday. The Markit/CIPS services PMI headline activity index fell for the third time in four months to 54.4 in June from 55.4 in May. That was [...]
BA passenger numbers plummet in June July 5, 2010 BRITISH Airways carried 11.1 per cent fewer passengers in June year-on-year reflecting the impact of strike action by cabin crew. BA, which is engaged in a long-running dispute with cabin crew members over pay and conditions, carried 2.57m passengers last month, down from the 2.93m it flew in June 2009, while its load factor – [...]
