ANALYST VIEWS: CAN BURBERRY MAINTAIN ITS SALES MOMENTUM? October 12, 2011 RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The company intends to continue its expansion plans, whilst remaining flexible in tapping on the brakes should circumstances dictate. Continuing investment in its business will of course weigh on profit in the medium term, whilst the company could become a victim of its own success given increasingly tough comparatives. Even so, [...]
Travis Perkins is buoyed by BSS sales lift October 12, 2011 TRAVIS Perkins yesterday reported strong sales at its heating and plumbing business BSS, which offset weakness at its Wickes DIY chain. Across Travis Perkins’ businesses, like for like sales rose by 5.9 per cent over the nine months to September. The company said sales growth at its merchanting business and at its plumbing and heating [...]
Fast Retailing gets boost from Uniqlo October 12, 2011 JAPAN’S Fast Retailing yesterday forecast a 16 per cent rise in annual operating profit thanks to higher sales at its domestic Uniqlo outlets and expansion of the budget clothing chain, after posting its first profit rise in six quarters. Asia’s top apparel retailer is expanding overseas to offset slowing growth in Japan due to persistent [...]
Esprit hit by claim that it overstated shop numbers October 12, 2011 SHARES in fashion chain Esprit dropped yesterday after it was claimed that it had exaggerated the number of stores it has in China. The company has said it has 498 outlets and 404 retail spaces in department stores in mainland China – a number disputed in a report in Next magazine. Next reported that it [...]
Fresnillo cuts guidance for silver output October 12, 2011 FRESNILLO, the Mexican precious metals miner, yesterday cut its silver production guidance for 2011, after the company was to forced to improve safety conditions at all of its projects following the death of two miners in July. The FTSE 100 company said quarterly production decreased by 5.8 per cent compared to the third quarter of [...]
BHP Billiton commits to $1.2bn capital for mine October 12, 2011 BHP BILLITON yesterday approved $1.2bn (£761m) in pre-commitment capital to start expansion work on its Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine, which analysts say could nearly cost 30 times this sum to develop fully. The funds will be used to buy trucks, build worker housing and for other items requiring lengthy lead times, it said. [...]
BP gets upper hand in Russian director lawsuit October 12, 2011 A RUSSIAN court is likely to throw out a $2.8bn (£1.8bn) lawsuit brought by a shareholder against two BP executives on the board of the oil major’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, after a judge denied the claimant more time to gather the necessary shareholder support. Andrey Prokhorov, a minority shareholder in TNK-BP, filed a claim [...]
Baer bankers accused of tax evasion role October 12, 2011 US PROSECUTORS indicted two private bankers with Julius Baer for helping wealthy Americans evade taxes, drawing yet another Swiss bank into the crosshairs of the US Justice Department amid a widening crackdown on offshore tax evasion. While the indictment of the two bankers, Daniela Casadei and Fabio Frazzetto, did not name their employer and referred [...]
ASML sees a slowdown in chip industry October 12, 2011 DUTCH chip equipment maker ASML has said that tablets and smartphones are driving the sector, but it sees signs of slowing growth elsewhere in the industry. ASML, seen as a bellwether for the technology sector, said 2012 will be a “difficult year” to forecast. Chief financial officer Peter Wennink said the slowdown in the semiconductor [...]
Online surge spearheads rise in marketing budgets October 12, 2011 MARKETING budgets were revised up in the last quarter, ending a nine month period of decline for the ailing industry, according to the latest IPA/BDO bellwether report. For the first time since the second quarter of 2007, budgets for all sectors were revised up. The internet saw the steepest increase by a wide margin and [...]
