Boots purchase blots Walgreen’s balance sheet but sales rocket September 30, 2014 American drugstore giant Walgreens yesterday reported a $239m (£147m) fourth-quarter loss caused, mainly, by a huge accounting charge from its purchase of British high street chemists Alliance Boots. The bottom line in the reported quarter was impacted by an $866m non-cash loss on the amendment and exercise of the company’s Alliance Boots call option. However, [...]
UK Mail revenue hit by fall in parcel volumes September 25, 2014 UK Mail Group yesterday forecast a one per cent drop in first-half reported revenue, blaming a decline in its mail business and weaker-than-expected parcel volumes. Revenue from mail business, which accounted for nearly half the company’s total revenue, was expected to fall by about six per cent in the six months ended 30 September, it [...]
H&M all dressed up for autumn but long summer has hit sales September 25, 2014 Fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz yesterday announced that its recent strong sales growth had slowed sharply this month as unusually warm weather delayed purchases of cold-weather gear. The Swedish company said sales in the 1-23 September period rose seven per cent, compared with a near-20 per cent increase in August, putting September on track to [...]
EU to bring in new laws on buy-to-rent September 25, 2014 THE EUROPEAN Union is to clamp down on buy-to-let home owners, insisting they will have to pass tough new affordability tests that could result in tens of thousands of people being denied loans, and others paying more for mortgages. A report in today’s Daily Telegraph says that new rules are being created after Europe insisted on changes [...]
Travelport value put at $2.1bn on market debut September 25, 2014 Shares in Travelport soared by as much as 10.6 per cent on debut yesterday, valuing the UK travel business backed by private equity group Blackstone at $2.13bn (£1.3bn). The company is benefiting from the recovery in business and leisure travel as the global economy improves. Travelport raised about $480m after its offering of 30m shares [...]
DHL “parcelcopter” drone to start Germany delivery service to Juist island September 24, 2014 Logistics firm DHL announced yesterday that it was using a drone to fly parcels to the German island of Juist, in what maybe the first time an unmanned aircraft has been allowed to deliver goods in Europe. The company, owned by Germany’s Deutsche Post, joins Amazon.com in testing the potential for drones to deliver packages. [...]
Dublin property prices soaring September 24, 2014 DUBLIN’S property prices are soaring faster than London’s, soaring 25.1 per cent in the year to August, easily outstripping the British capital’s 19.1 per cent rise. Peter Stafford, the director of Property Industry Ireland, warned thr price rise “coupled with an increased number of transactions, will undoubtedly lead to further pressure on rents and increased [...]
Life is sweet for British Sugar September 23, 2014 BRITISH Sugar yesterday avoided a watchdog investigation into its market practices,after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirmed it would not look into a complaint by a rival that it was abusing its dominant position in the market. Rival Napier Brown claimed that British Sugar was charging higher prices for its sugar and that this [...]
Veteran UK lender Close Brothers surges ahead on share activity September 23, 2014 A SURGE in specialist lending and stock market activity yesterday saw British financial services company Close Brothers announce an increase in operating profits by 20 per cent in the past year to £201m. Close Brothers, founded in 1878, said full-year profit rose 25 per cent after it increased lending and rising stock markets boosted its [...]
Angola LNG plant needs huge rebuild September 22, 2014 ANGOLA’S liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant faces a lengthy closure and massive reconstruction work to fix design flaws and corrosion of its nearly-new equipment, which will add at least $12bn (£7.3bn) to the project’s cost. US oil group Chevron, its biggest shareholder, accepted there were design problems with the project, which began production last year [...]
