NEWS | IN BRIEF March 11, 2010 Advent International, the private equity owner of Poundland, the discount retailer that sells all products for £1 or less, has hired advisers to prepare for a possible sale. Pound stores have done well during the recession, attracting cash-strapped shoppers. Advent bought Poundland for about £50m in 2002. Close Brothers is advising Poundland on its strategic [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF March 11, 2010 The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) plans a $300m public offering in a long-awaited move that could allow the biggest US options exchange to expand or be acquired. Completion of the IPO is not a given, however, since chief executive William Brodsky must still convince exchange members that they have more to gain than lose [...]
BP begins its $7bn Brazilian oil adventure March 11, 2010 BRITISH Petroleum (BP) has begun its long-awaited venture into the Brazilian offshore market after agreeing to buy $7bn (£4.6bn) worth of assets from Devon Energy. Devon’s largely unknown but possibly highly lucrative Brazilian assets have been described by Tony Hayward, chief executive, as “exciting” and have fulfilled his ambition of gaining a foothold in the [...]
Hayward joins the carnival with key deal March 11, 2010 BP finally joined the carnival yesterday, spending $7bn to snap up assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the Gulf of Mexico. It will strengthen the oil major’s presence in all these regions, especially the Gulf of Mexico. Evo reckons that the whole of the Kaskida field – in which BP is upping its stake from 70 [...]
Old Mutual to sell off its US life businesses March 11, 2010 INSURER Old Mutual said yesterday it would reduce its exposure to the US, selling its life business and listing its US asset-management arm as it revealed a fall in pre-tax profit. The Anglo-South African business with banking, insurance and asset management operations in over 30 countries, is under pressure to slim down amid shareholder concerns [...]
Johnston Press is ready to wield the axe after more disappointing results March 11, 2010 Johnston Press saw its pre-tax profits plummet 56 per cent to just £43m last year, dragged further into the doldrums by the ongoing advertising drought. Like-for-like ad revenue fell 26.5 per cent and total group revenues fell 20 per cent to £428m. Britain’s regional newspaper industry has been hammered by a severe downturn in advertising [...]
Morrisons in bid to expand March 11, 2010 SUPERMARKET chain WM Morrison yesterday pledged to open more smaller stores after new openings last year helped it to record a 30 per cent rise in full-year pre-tax profit. In 2009, pre-tax profits surged to £858m as turnover rose by six per cent to £15.4bn. The company, Britain’s fourth largest supermarket, raised its annual dividend [...]
Wetherspoon dividend back as profit rises March 11, 2010 PUB chain Wetherspoon announced the end of a year-long dividend freeze yesterday after successfully completing its debt refinancing. Shareholders will receive a 12p dividend on 1 April for the year to July 2009 with a further special dividend of 7p a share. Last year it scrapped its dividend payment as it negotiated its refinancing. It [...]
Home Retail ups forecast March 11, 2010 HOME retail Group – which owns Argos and Homebase – has tipped its pre-tax profit for the year to come in at £290m. The figure is slightly ahead of its earlier forecast of £285m for the year to 27 February. Argos sales fell 9.4 per cent while sales at its home improvement operation Homebase declined [...]
John Lewis gives staff 15pc bonus March 11, 2010 JOHN Lewis will hand its staff a 15 per cent bonus after reporting a surge in annual profits. The staff-owned retailer made a profit before the employee bonus and tax of £306.6m in the year to the end of January – up from £279.6m in the previous year. It owns 28 department stores, one John [...]
