Thorntons sales melt away October 5, 2011 Chocolate maker and retailer Thorntons yesterday said sales had fallen 7.6 per cent in the past three weeks. Sales from its own shops were down 10.1 per cent. Chief executive Jonathan Hart said cost-conscious consumers were choosing promotions over full-price chocolates, and the high street remained weak. He said that Thorntons’ rollout of its new [...]
PwC sees IPO freeze for the rest of 2011 October 5, 2011 A WORRYINGLY low number of companies are planning to list on Europe’s stock markets in the remaining months of this year as they abandon fundraising in the current bearish markets, PwC will warn today. High volatility and low investor confidence have taken their toll on listings over the past quarter, with less than €1bn (£860m) [...]
Barclay brothers reveal flow of bids for Ritz hotel October 5, 2011 SIR DAVID and Sir Frederick Barclay have recieved several unsolicited bids for their Ritz Hotel in Piccadilly and have valued the legendary site to be worth more than £625m. The Barclay brothers, who also own the Telegraph newspapers, revealed the approaches in the hotel’s annual results published on companies house, which also states that the [...]
Costco results miss forecasts October 5, 2011 COSTCO Wholesale missed forecasts for its fourth quarter profit yesterday and said it will increase its annual membership fee for a little more than 22m members. For the fourth quarter, net income was $478m, or $1.08 a share, compared with $432m, or 97 cents a share a year ago. Sales rose 17 per cent to [...]
Monsanto in operating loss October 5, 2011 GLOBAL agribusiness company Monsanto posted a smaller-than-expected fourth-quarter loss and said it would restate financial results for 2009, 2010 and prior 2011 quarters due to issues with its glyphosate herbicide business. The company yesterday posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $112m, or 21 cents a share. The loss from continuing operations was 22 cents a [...]
New iPhone gives rivals a shred of hope October 5, 2011 THE TELECOMS world was yesterday digesting the implications of Apple’s latest product launch, with manufacturers hoping to capitalise on the initial lack of enthusiasm. Nokia was trading almost five per cent up yesterday, with its new line of phones running Windows Mango expected to put it in direct competition with other high end handset makers. [...]
BT ramps up its broadband October 5, 2011 BT yesterday said it will ramp up its superfast fibre broadband service to offer speeds of up to 300Mbps for some customers. It also said it will double the speed of its fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) service. Openreach chief executive Liv Garfield said: “These developments will transform broadband speeds across the country.” Communications minister [...]
Telecom Plus earnings rise October 5, 2011 UTILITY services group Telecom Plus yesterday forecast a record first-half profit on an improved customer base, and a significant increase in the interim dividend. The company, which supplies gas, electricity, telephony and broadband under the Utility Warehouse name, also said it was comfortable with the full-year market expectations for both earnings and dividend. A spokesman [...]
Sportingbet soars as its profits jump October 5, 2011 ONLINE bookies Sportingbet saw its shares soar almost six per cent yesterday after its pre-tax profit soared from £6.9m last year to £23.8m. Revenues dropped slightly from £207.5 to £206.3m. The results were announced in the long shadow of Sportingbet’s long-mooted takeover by Ladbrokes, which the firm said is ongoing. Discussions over the possible sale [...]
EMI attracts takeover bids ahead of Citigroup deadline October 5, 2011 THE SECOND round of bids for embattled music giant EMI closed yesterday, with five suitors expected to have made offers for some or all of the firm. The company will now consider the offers over a period of around two weeks before informing bidders about the next stage of the process. EMI, home to iconic [...]
