UK goods trade deficit narrows April 13, 2010 THE goods trade deficit reduced in February to its smallest since June 2006 after exports recovered from a fall caused by the poor weather, according to official figures. Britain’s goods trade gap with the rest of the world fell to £6.179bn in February – lower than the £7.35bn forecast by analysts. The figure was also [...]
High street sales leap in bumper easter April 13, 2010 RETAIL sales growth surged last month after a booming Easter for high street trade. The total value of sales rose by 6.6 per cent in March – the biggest upturn since April 2006 – according to the data from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG. The figures follow positive results from john Lewis and Marks [...]
Debenhams profits jump after own brands boost April 13, 2010 DEBENHAMS has posted half-year profits before tax and exceptional items of £123.6m – a rise of 18.6 per cent. Higher group sales helped to fuel the rise as well as a focus on own-brand ranges – which have bigger margins than designer labels – in the 26 weeks to 27 February. The group’s net debt [...]
Asda chief Bond to step down April 12, 2010 ANDY Bond is stepping down as chief executive of Asda in a shock move ahead of his unveiling of the company’s five-year plan. Bond is stepping into a new role of chairman on the board of Asda – a subsidiary of US-giant Walmart – the company said yesterday. The role will start off full-time to [...]
Henderson confirms bid talks for Ridgeworth April 12, 2010 ANGLO-Australian fund manager Henderson Group has confirmed it is in preliminary talks to buy parts of US-based Ridgeworth Capital Management. The group – which has not made a formal bid – could expect to pay around $300m (£194.5m) for the assets. Henderson said in statement to the markets it was “discussions regarding a potential acquisition [...]
Ladbrokes quits Italian market April 12, 2010 LADBROKES has agreed to sell its Italian retail betting and gaming business Itali for €5.25m (£4.61m). Italian gaming group Cogetech will take over the business after its cash offer. In 2009 the Italian retail business made a loss of £9.9m and at 31 December 2009 the carrying value of the business was £26.7m. The Italian [...]
Eurostar bounces back after bleak Christmas April 12, 2010 EUROSTAR has recovered from the breakdowns which blighted the business at the close of last year to record a profits and passenger number boost in the first three months of this year. The Channel Tunnel rail operator hit sales revenue of £178m in the first three months of 2010 – up more than five per [...]
YouGov profits slide – but upturn in sight April 12, 2010 POLLSTER YouGov has seen profits and turnover slide but is relying on new products to reverse its fortunes. Adjusted pre-tax profit was £1.4m for the half year to the end of January – 41 per cent down on the same period the year before. Turnover was £21.3m – compared with £22.6m, the company said in [...]
UBS earnings hit three-year high April 12, 2010 SWISS banking giant UBS said first-quarter pre-tax profit would be at least CHF 2.5bn (£1.52bn). The group attributed some of the increase in profit in the first quarter to a slowing of client withdrawals in all its business sections. UBS issued the figures in an unexpected interim statement ahead of a shareholder meeting later in [...]
Cadbury cafe chain to be launched April 9, 2010 CADBURY is set to launch a high street cafe chain under new owners Kraft. Up to 60 new outlets called Cadbury Cocoa Houses are to be set up across the UK, serving hot chocolate, afternoon tea and novelty chocolate gifts. The outlets will be up against the likes of Starbucks in the high street cafe [...]
