Home Retail chief snubs calls for shop closures September 28, 2011 HOME Retail Group bosss Terry Duddy is rejecting City pressure to cut back on stores as sales at its Argos outlets struggle. He said he will not be closing stores following a market research report into the company’s performance, claiming the wider economy was to blame rather than his strategy for the company. “There were [...]
PwC: London hotels set for record 2012 September 28, 2011 LONDON hotels are set to have a record 2012, according to the UK Hotels Forecast from accountancy firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC). The report suggests that the Olympics, the Farnborough International Air show and the Queen’s diamond jubilee will bring people flooding into the capital city, with occupancy set to hit record levels in the third [...]
Norilsk Nickel reinstates its buyback plan September 28, 2011 RUSSIA’S biggest mining company Norilsk Nickel yesterday revived its $4.5bn share buyback plan, which was shelved in February during a dispute with 25 per cent shareholder Rusal. Norilsk, which mines and produces metals including nickel and palladium, said it plans to acquire up to 14.7m shares at $306 each for common shares and $30.66 for [...]
FIRST BOEING DREAMLINER LANDS IN JAPAN September 28, 2011 ALL Nippon Airways’ first Boeing 787 Dreamliner touched down in Tokyo early yesterday with hundreds of aviation fans welcoming the carbon-composite plane that its US maker is fielding, albeit three years late, to keep rival Airbus out of its best market. Japan remains a fortress for Boeing, which it dominates with a 90 per cent [...]
St Modwen says trading is on course September 28, 2011 UK REGENERATION specialist St Modwen Properties said yesterday it was making good progress in a tough climate, as rental income, trading profits and cashflow all stayed in line with management expectations. “We continue to make good progress in the year to date. Even in this challenging market,” said Bill Oliver, chief executive of St Modwen. “We [...]
Central Rand Gold to appeal against the cancellation of its mining rights September 28, 2011 LONDON-listed gold miner Central Rand Gold said yesterday it would take an appeal against the cancellation of its mining rights to the high court in Pretoria. Shares in the company recovered slightly from sharp losses in Tuesday’s trading yesterday, after it said it would apply for interdictory relief, which would allow it to continue operations [...]
Xchanging buys out Aon September 28, 2011 Troubled outsourcing group Xchanging yesterday said it would pay £10.5m to take full control of its broking support services arm by buying out Aon’s 50 per cent stake. Xchanging, which refinanced in August following a profit warning in February, said its relationship with Aon would continue through a service contract, but that the deal would [...]
Cineworld drops Spain deal September 28, 2011 Cineworld yesterday dropped its takeover of Spanish picture house group Cinesur, after six months of talks failed to produce a satisfactory deal. Cineworld said in a statement that the seller “had not been able to satisfy certain pre-conditions to completion within the agreed timescale” and that a deal was no longer in the interests of [...]
Goodmans maker gets offer September 28, 2011 AIM-listed electronic goods firm Harvard International confirmed yesterday that it has received a takeover approach from Chinese technology group Chengdu Geeya Technology Co, sending its shares up 44 per cent to 32.5p. The Hertfordshire-based firm, which supplies electronic goods and accessories under the Goodmans brand, urged its shareholders to “take no action at this time” [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 28, 2011 Kleinwort Benson Mouhammed Choukeir has been appointed as chief investment officer at the private bank, effective from October. Choukeir moves from Morgan Stanley, where he was head of multi-asset class investing in the wealth management division. Prior to that, he was a fixed income and foreign exchange portfolio manager with Morgan Stanley, having originally joined [...]
