Next Christmas shop sales disappoint but online thrives January 4, 2012 Next has reported a 3.1 per cent rise in total sales between August and Christmas Eve as online sales offset “disappointing” sales at its High Street stores. The company, which did not discount any goods in the run up to Christmas, expects full-year pretax profits to be £7m either side of £565m – up four [...]
Smith & Nephew spins off biologics unit January 4, 2012 Smith & Nephew, Europe’s largest artificial hip and knee maker, is to spin off its biologics business into a new joint venture that will be majority owned by international healthcare equity investor Essex Woodlands. The move provides a cash injection and long-term funding for research in the high-tech area at a time when the British [...]
Domino’s sales speed up January 4, 2012 Britain’s biggest pizza delivery firm Domino’s Pizza said its sales growth had accelerated in the fourth quarter and its 2011 profit would be in line with market expectations. Domino’s, which operates the British and Irish franchises of the global delivery brand, said sales at its 604 shops open more than a year were up 3.6 [...]
BP stops payments to spill victims until court papers clarified January 4, 2012 BP’s $20bn (£12.7bn) oil spill fund has halted payments to eligible victims until a US federal court clarifies an order issued in December, according to a notice posted on the fund’s website. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana had asked the fund, called the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, to pay into [...]
STOCKS RALLY AS AMERICAN ECONOMY SEES SIGNS OF LIFE January 3, 2012 GLOBAL markets staged a new year rally yesterday on signs that the world’s largest economy is spluttering back to life. A raft of strong economic data from the US, including faster-than-expected growth in its factory sector and higher construction spending, convinced traders to snap up equities. The widely regarded Institute of Supply Management (ISM) said [...]
Some justice at last January 3, 2012 THE MOTHER of Stephen Lawrence last night hit out at the Metropolitan Police after two men were finally convicted of the black teenager’s murder. Doreen Lawrence said police had not “done their job properly” after her son was killed at a south London bus stop in 1993. She and Stephen’s father, Neville, had earlier wept [...]
Eurozone banks living hand to mouth on loose ECB funds January 3, 2012 THERE are growing fears that some Eurozone banks could be in severe financial difficulties based on data released by the European Central Bank (ECB) yesterday. Figures revealed that the Bank’s overnight emergency funding facility is still in high demand despite the ECB having flooded Eurozone lenders with money in recent weeks. On Monday, banks drew [...]
Britain needs to take Chinese lessons January 3, 2012 IT is quite fashionable to be bearish on China these days. Few think the Asian superpower will be able to brush off the Eurozone woes, inflation is sky high and its housing market bubble is about to go pop. I’ve noticed a certain smugness in those who predict pain for the Chinese, as though it [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING January 3, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES MINISTER ATTACKS GREEN LOBBY The climate change minister has rounded on the “environmental Taliban” of green campaigners, insisting they are wrong to accuse the government of abandoning its commitment to a low carbon agenda. Greg Barker said: “There is nothing environmental about exporting manufacturing jobs abroad.” Barker has led the contentious efforts to [...]
City Airport gets traffic lift January 3, 2012 London’s City Airport has smashed through the 3m passenger mark in 2011 after growing its traffic by 7.6 per cent over the year. Traffic in December was up a hefty 33 per cent on a year ago. The airport has grown faster than Heathrow, which added 3.7 per cent to its passenger numbers in the [...]
