Blacks to be put up for sale December 7, 2011 Blacks Leisure plans to put itself up for sale after the struggling outdoor retailer failed to raise enough funds to carry on the business. The retailer had issued a profit warning last month in the run-up to Christmas, after the retailer in October said it was evaluating all kinds of funding options. “The directors do [...]
Stagecoach profits hit by rail unit December 7, 2011 Transport group Stagecoach reported a bigger-than-expected drop in first-half profit hurt by losses at its East Midlands rail franchise. The bus and rail operator said pretax profit fell 18 percent to £88.7m. Sales in the six months to end-October rose 14 percent to £1.29bn, also below estimates of 1.37 billion pounds. The results were hurt [...]
Numis profits rise driven by M&A December 7, 2011 Stockbroker Numis posted a 13 per cent rise in full-year pretax profitS driven by a near doubling in its mergers and acquisition deal fees, but said it saw no near-term change in difficult market conditions. The firm, which focuses on small to mid-cap clients, said adjusted profit before tax increased to £8.9m in the year [...]
Kesa suffers first half loss December 7, 2011 Electricals retailer Kesa swung to an expected first-half loss reflecting a poor performance at its Comet business in Britain, which is being sold, and weaker second-quarter trading in France. Kesa, whose main business is French market leader Darty, said on Wednesday while all markets were becoming more challenging, it was “well prepared” for the peak [...]
OSBORNE TO REVEAL PAY OF 120 TOP UK BANKERS December 6, 2011 SENIOR banking executives face having their pay packages published after chancellor George Osborne unveiled a new transparency regime for the 15 largest banks operating in the UK. The Treasury says the new rules, which demand the publication of rewards given to the eight most senior non-board executives, will help investors police a bank’s “risk profile”. [...]
Sorrell: Britain must do more to get WPP back December 6, 2011 BRITAIN has not yet gone far enough to lure WPP back to London, Sir Martin Sorrell told City A.M. yesterday. Chancellor George Osborne has staked a large part of his business-friendly credentials on Sir Martin’s signal that his marketing firm WPP will come home in light of reforms to UK taxes on profits made abroad. [...]
Price war cut food inflation December 6, 2011 CUSTOMERS are benefiting from intense competition between supermarkets, according to data out today from the British Retail Consortium. Food price inflation fell for a second consecutive month to 4.0 per cent in the year to November, compared with 4.2 per cent in October. Overall shop prices rose 2.0 per cent in the twelve-month period, down [...]
Coalition is confused about business December 6, 2011 WE love you – actually, no, we hate you. That, roughly speaking, seems to be the government’s attitude to business and business leaders. The signals are so mixed that they are utterly incomprehensible. Take tax policy and incentives. The official position is – well, there isn’t really one. The coalition is likely to retain the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 6, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES CLARKE REJECTS CALL FOR EU POWER GRAB Ken Clarke has told Conservative eurosceptics to forget about repatriation of powers from Brussels at this week’s European Union summit, while urging David Cameron to focus on “how to maintain the financial stability of the western world.” The justice secretary’s comments, in an interview with the [...]
Henderson in legal row December 6, 2011 A GROUP of pension funds is suing asset manager Henderson over the handling of its investment in construction firm John Laing in 2006. The full list is not yet known but the pension funds of the BBC, Tesco, BAE Systems and Bupa, as well as Kent and South Tyneside councils, were among those known to [...]
