Sky has already seen off challenges from rivals Setanta and ITV Digital August 9, 2010 BT SAYS its sports offering is the first step in an aggressive expansion into pay-TV it hopes will eat away at Sky’s dominance of the market (at last count Sky was tantalisingly close to 10m subscribers, while BT is languishing with less than 500,000). But BT would do well to bear in mind the cautionary [...]
Office demand drives Morgan Sindall profit August 9, 2010 CONSTRUCTION group Morgan Sindall said growing demand for office space was helping to offset the impact of government spending cuts, although the construction recession was not over yet. “The commercial side is growing, but let’s not over exaggerate – it’s growing a bit but not as quickly as governments are spending less,” said executive chairman [...]
Quintain JV sells offices at Pier Walk August 9, 2010 REAL estate investor Quintain has sold its Pier Walk development near Canary Wharf to DekaBank, Germany’s largest open-ended fund manager, for £97.1m. Quintain, which owned the seven-story building at Greenwich Peninsula in a joint venture with Bovis Lend Lease, said the sale represents a six per cent uplift on the property’s valuation in March and [...]
Connaught shares continue to fall as fears of a debt-for-equity swap build August 9, 2010 SHARES in embattled housing maintenance firm Connaught tanked again yesterday, as investors reacted to last week’s warning of “material losses” and talk of a debt-for-equity swap. The stock closed down 29 per cent at 11p, after hitting a low of just 9.2p earlier in the day. The 52-week high for Connaught shares stands at 448.3p. [...]
Lack of funding poses threat to building work August 9, 2010 THE OUTLOOK for UK commercial development activity over the next three months turned negative for the first time since July 2009, hit by a lack of funding and concern over public sector demand, a report published yesterday found. Developers surveyed last month feel most pessimistic about new building activity for offices, followed by retail and [...]
THE CITY’S GOT TALENT: THE HUNKIEST GENTS IN FINANCE August 9, 2010 ANTHONY ASTBURY, GFI GROUP Environmental markets broker Anthony takes the crown in the second annual round-up of the City’s hunkiest gents, voted for by your good selves and judged by a panel of terribly dedicated City A.M.ers. A keen sportsman, who boxes, skis and plays football when he’s not jetting around Europe meeting clients, Anthony [...]
United Carpets sees profit soar but slowdown looming August 9, 2010 UNITED Carpets’ pre-tax profits surged by 84.5 per cent to £1.1m in the year to 31 March. However, trading has weakened with like-for-like sales in carpets falling 2.6 per cent in the past 17 weeks. The retailer said it was affected by “the World Cup, the general election and subsequent Budget which together have made [...]
M&B to sell bowling firm in £39m deal August 9, 2010 PUBS and restaurants group Mitchells & Butlers is offloading its Hollywood Bowl ten-pin bowling business to rival AMF Bowling for £39m. AMF will add Hollywood Bowl’s 24 sites to its existing 33 UK bowling centres. M&B is selling non-core businesses to focus on its pub operations, which include Harvester, Toby Carvery, Vintage Inns and O’Neill’s. [...]
Portmeirion boosted as Koreans snap up its patterned ceramics August 9, 2010 POTTERY group Portmeirion saw its profit surge by 88 per cent as its sales in Korea and the US took off. The Spode and Royal Worcester brands the company bought helped to fuel the rise with revenues up 24 per cent to £21m. Chairman Dick Steele said half the sales rise came from the acquired [...]
Watchdog will look at NAB’s $12bn Axa buy August 9, 2010 AUSTRALIA’S competition regulator agreed to consult the market on National Australia Bank’s proposals to salvage its $12bn (£7.5bn) takeover of Axa Asia Pacific, giving it a glimmer of hope the deal would succeed. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said yesterday it hoped to rule on the undertakings or some proposed asset sales by [...]
