Ocado to report a healthy sales drive June 20, 2010 THE online grocer, Ocado, aims to make its stock market debut by the middle of next month and is expected to make a formal announcement next week. The company has achieved soaring sales but has yet to make a pretax profit. Ocado hopes to achieve a valuation of £1bn and has appointed JPMorgan Cazenove, UBS [...]
Telstra agrees to £6.5bn Australian internet upgrade June 20, 2010 INTERNET group Telstra has agreed an A$11bn (£6.5bn) deal with the Australian government to roll out a national broadband network, after nearly a year of negotiations. The company, which was part-owned by the State until 2006, will replace its copper and cable internet network with a fibre-optic service and lease it back to the Australian [...]
Ocado June 20, 2010 THE former Goldman bankers behind Ocado certainly have chutzpah. Trying to reach a £1bn valuation in a flotation is a tall order for pretty much any firm in these times; to do so without having turned a single penny of profit is nothing short of brazen. Ocado’s product is top-drawer in many respects, there’s no [...]
EMI names new chief executive June 20, 2010 EMI, the troubled record label, has changed its top management for the second time this year, weeks after private equity owner Terra Firma persuaded its investors to pump another £105m into the business. Chief executive Charles Allen and Lord Birt, chairman of EMI’s holding company Maltby Capital, have stepped down to become advisers to Terra [...]
Business rent disputes fall 23pc June 20, 2010 Last year saw 23 per cent fewer arguments between businesses and landlords over commercial rents, as recession-hit property owners held off raising prices to keep a grasp on tenants. City law firm Trowers & Hamlin worked out 6,600 rent disputes were referred to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors last year, compared with 8,535 in [...]
Facebook looks to boost profile June 20, 2010 Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is set to make a rare on-stage appearance this week as the social networking site looks to improve its advertising revenues. Zuckerburg is set to receive the “media person of the year” award at the Cannes Lions Internation Advertising Festival after being interviewed by its audience of agency and marketing [...]
SANDWICH TALKS GO STALE June 20, 2010 DEAL discussions between the husband-and-wife owners of Eat, Niall and Faith MacArthur, and Waitrose have ended after the two sides were unable to agree a price for the sale of the fast food business. Eat, which is valued at between £100m and £150m, will now concentrate on expanding beyond its 100 outlets.
Daily Express boss Desmond eyes Five TV June 20, 2010 DAILY Express and Daily Star owner Richard Desmond has joined the bidding for ailing TV station Five, it emerged yesterday. Desmond, who has trumpeted his £1bn acquisitions war chest in recent weeks, is said to have registered his interest in the asset ahead of today’s first-round deadline. The newspaper tycoon, who owns the Daily Express [...]
Investors need to get used to lower returns June 20, 2010 Until last week I’d never been in The Galerie Doree, but if you ever get the chance it’s well worth a peek. Situated inside what is now the the Banque de France but was once the Hotel de Toulouse it equals anything in Versailles with a French version of the of the Sistine Chapel on [...]
More directors facing disqualification June 20, 2010 THE number of directors of insolvent companies facing disqualification proceedings for involvement in criminal activity has increased by 52 per cent in a year, new figures show. City law firm Wedlake Bell, which obtained the figures, has warned this is just the tip of the iceberg. In the year up to 31 March 2010, 265 [...]
