Mulberry bags a big profit overseas December 8, 2011 MULBERRY, the “affordable luxury” fashion brand whose bags have adorned the arms of Kate Middleton and Kate Moss, yesterday reported a trebling of pre-tax profits to £15.6m. It also saw its half-year retail sales jump 47 per cent year-on-year, buoyed by soaring international demand for its designer handbags. The company reached total revenues of £72.3m, [...]
COMMENT ZOE STRIMPEL December 8, 2011 PICK the right It Girl and you’re in clover. For Mulberry, it was the Alexa satchel designed in honour of the style icon and TV presenter Alex Chung that hurled the company into the luxury retail stratosphere – profits quadrupled in 2010 thanks to that willowy fashionista. But it’s not just the Alexa Effect (yes, [...]
Cameron must stand up for the City – finance remains this country’s biggest asset December 8, 2011 FRANCE and Germany have sent a detailed letter to Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the EU Council, setting out their wish list ahead of the EU summit. Their desires include tighter rules on deficits, which they hope will calm the markets, but also – and predictably – proposals for a Eurozone financial transaction tax [...]
Private equity is being forced to face new reality December 8, 2011 Cheap money era is over, but there’s still opportunity THERE are those in private equity who like to pretend that our industry somehow escapes the laws of supply and demand. They would prefer investors to believe returns – at least when they are healthy – rest on the “magic touch” of fund managers, rather than [...]
Poetry and capitalism make a heroic couplet December 8, 2011 T.S. ELIOT was a banker, but that hasn’t stopped two poets from refusing to be shortlisted for this year’s prestigious, £15,000 Eliot Prize over a sponsorship deal with Aurum Capital, an investment firm specialising in funds of hedge funds. First Alice Oswald and now John Kinsella have given up their coveted places on the list. [...]
RAPID RESPONSES December 8, 2011 Chinese walls Terrific advice [Culture clash: Five tips for Western firms that want to do business with China, yesterday]. I’ve lived and worked in Greater China many times over the past 15 years. How I wish I read this article before my first trip. If anyone is skeptical about anything in the article, trust me, [...]
Premier Farnell cautious as third quarter sales fall short December 8, 2011 BRITISH electronic parts distributor Premier Farnell reported a slight dip in third-quarter sales yesterday, and said it remained cautious on the global economic outlook. “The quarter’s profit was in line with our expectations, compared with last year’s strong performance,” the company said. “Although we remain cautious on the global economic outlook, the business has responded [...]
Shares slump at L&S after GE pulls out December 8, 2011 SHARES in London & Stamford Property plunged by more than 13 per cent yesterday after its largest shareholder sold its stake in the struggling business. London & Stamford stock fell by 13.2 per cent during the day before closing down 7.55 per cent at 106.5p after GE Asset Management offloaded all of its 74m shares, [...]
Beltane Asset Management fills its maiden building at Cloak Lane December 8, 2011 BELTANE Asset Management has filled its 9 Cloak Lane office block, six months after starting its search for tenants. The firm has signed up ERIM Services to take the fifth floor, completing its lettings drive for the building near Cannon Street and taking its average rents to £51 a square foot. Beltane, which was set [...]
OFT to review private health care in the UK December 8, 2011 THE UK’s £5bn private healthcare market is set to come under scrutiny, after The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday it planned to examine whether larger players were preventing competition in the sector. The OFT said it had provisionally decided to refer the market for privately funded healthcare services to the Competition Commission to [...]
