WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 6, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES PIMCO WINS MORE FREEDOM Pimco, the US asset manager, is being given more autonomy as part of a restructuring by its owner Allianz, the German insurer. Pimco has been one of Allianz’s most successful investments since it was acquired in 2000 and has been given a largely free rein to set its own [...]
Costa Coffee lifts turnover at Whitbread September 6, 2011 WHITBREAD cheered the market yesterday after reporting a sharp rise in sales at its Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains, despite the continuing shaky consumer climate. The hotel and restaurant group was the top performer in the FTSE 100 after posting a 4.8 per cent increase in like-for-like sales in the 11 weeks to 18 [...]
Hangover dulls caffeine high September 6, 2011 WHITBREAD’s upbeat statement yesterday was a breath of fresh air to the markets, propping up the FTSE with a seven per cent jump as it promised yet more growth from its core Costa Coffee and Premier Inn brands. But there’s one albatross still hanging around the company neck – its underperforming pub restaurant business, where [...]
McBride profits fall as market remains tough September 6, 2011 HOUSEHOLD and personal care producer McBride has seen its profits fall by 76 per cent in the year to 30 June. The own-label goods manufacturer’s end-of-year results, released yesterday, showed that pre-tax profits have dropped from £29.6m to £7.1m. McBride chief executive Chris Bull has said that the results can be best explained by the [...]
DS Smith says trading positive September 6, 2011 BRITISH packaging and office products company DS Smith said its first-quarter trading was good, driven by a successful acquisition and resilience in the fast-moving consumer goods market, and said it was confident in trading outlook for the year. The producer of recycled packaging said like-for-like volumes in corrugated packaging were up three per cent and [...]
Greene King cautious as pub food boosts its sales September 6, 2011 BRITISH pubs and brewery group Greene King said higher demand for pub food helped it partly offset the impact of cost inflation and lower consumer morale in the 18 weeks to 4 September, and reported a rise in like-for-like sales. “The trading outlook remains uncertain as UK consumers are having to cope with rising costs, [...]
BP ploughs £700m into North Sea September 6, 2011 BP said yesterday it plans to invest up to £700m on developing an oil reservoir in the central North Sea. BP, along with its minority partners Eni and Summit, hopes to produce 45,000 barrels a day once the Kinnoull prospect is up and running. The consortium will spend two years upgrading the Andrew platform ahead [...]
Conrad Black returns to jail September 6, 2011 Former media mogul Lord Conrad Black yesterday returned to prison in Florida to finish serving a sentence for fraud and obstruction of justice, a US Bureau of Prisons spokesman said. Black, who once owned the Telegraph, was booked in to the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami, a low-security facility, yesterday afternoon to serve another 13 [...]
UK firms snap up more rivals September 6, 2011 BRITISH companies took advantage of the weak global economic recovery to spend £10.2bn on acquisitions in the last quarter. The Office for National Statistics figures for April to June mark a slowdown on the first three months of the year, but are still the second highest since the first quarter of 2008. The largest acquisition [...]
City of London Investment is undaunted by market turmoil September 6, 2011 ASSET manager City of London Investment Group said its funds under management had risen by a third in the year to the end of May, and to more than $5bn (£3.1bn) yesterday. City said the jump outstripped the 29 per cent growth seen in the MSCI emerging market index over the same period, while its [...]
