HD boosts BSkyB profits January 27, 2010 BSkyB has announced it made an operating profit of £401m in the six months to December – up 3 per cent compared to 12 months earlier. The company added 172,000 new subscribers in the second quarter, growing its customer base to 9.7m – but short of its 10m target. The group posted first-half revenues of [...]
Pinsent joins JJB board as sales plunge January 27, 2010 OLYMPIC gold winning rower Matthew Pinsent has joined the board of JJB – as the troubled retailer announced a 28 per cent decline in sales. Pinsent has been appointed as a non-executive director in a bid to breathe new life into the business. Total group revenue for same store sales for the financial year plunged [...]
Big freeze and VAT hike hit January sales January 27, 2010 RETAILERS suffered in Britain’s big freeze as shoppers deserted the high street at the start of the year. Figures from the CBI laid bare the grim news for shops with poor weather and the end of the VAT reduction taking their toll in January. The monthly survey found that 36 per cent of retailers saw [...]
WH Smith sales dive January 26, 2010 WH Smith have reported a 4 per cent drop in like-for-like sales as customers bought fewer books. The figures for the 21 weeks to last weekend showed that the retailer’s High street stores saw a fall of 5 per cent while its travel-based outlets dipped by two per cent. WH Smith has been concentrating on [...]
Pets at Home sold in £995m deal January 26, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) is buying British retailer Pets at Home in a deal worth £955m. KKR, whose retail investments include health and beauty group Alliance Boots and toys chain Toys’R’Us, saw off rival bids from Apax, Bain and TPG. Earlier this month Pets at Home posted a 6.7 per cent rise [...]
Greene King ‘weathering well’ January 26, 2010 GREENE King (GNK) may have managed to weather the worst of January’s snow storms, but the integrated pub and brewery giant expects the rest of 2010 to prove even tougher. During the 38 weeks ending 24 January 2010, the Suffolk based pub chain reported a 4.3 per cent growth in sales, despite a three week [...]
UK economy limps out of recession January 26, 2010 THE UK has officially come out of recession – but only just. Data released by the Official of National Statistics showed the economy grew just 0.1 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2009. Although the figure compares with a decrease of 0.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2009 it still comes way [...]
Consumer confidence up in US but housing market shaky January 25, 2010 CONSUMER confidence in January hit its highest level since September 2008 in the US, according to new data. A decline in job losses in recent months and a resurgent stock market have helped improve consumers’ mood after the US recession that ended last year. Yet concerns remain about the sustainability of the recovery after the [...]
HSBC chief attacks bankers’ bonuses January 25, 2010 HSBC chairman Stephen Green has launched an attack on bankers’ bonuses branding the sums they have been receiving “inflated”. He said bankers would have to accept lower payouts in the future following the furore surrounding their remuneration packages. Green, who is also chairman of the British Bankers’ Association, said: “You’ve had bonuses paid off gross [...]
Siemens sees profits leap after cost cutting January 25, 2010 GERMAN engineering group Siemens has reported a big jump in pre-tax profit despite a sales slump. Siemens has cut its workforce by 22,000 in the past year as well as slashing its administration costs by €2bn (£1.7bn). Its profit rose 23 per cent in the first quarter to €1.48bn from €1.2bn in the same period [...]