Supergroup in bullish mood as it eyes growth July 12, 2012 SUPERGROUP chief executive Julian Dunkerton said yesterday he was looking forward to a “new dawn” for the company, insisting it had drawn a line under operational errors that sparked three profit warnings last year. Shares in the fashion retailer, down 62 per cent over the year, perked up 16 per cent yesterday after it met [...]
EU sides with big telcos on fibre broadband rental space plans July 12, 2012 EUROPEAN regulators yesterday backed away from forcing big telecom operators to charge smaller rivals less for renting space on their networks, changing tack in their efforts to spur the buildout of fibre broadband. The European Commission had argued that the only way to get telcos to pick up the pace of building faster fibre networks [...]
Primark and a Jubilee bake-off helps AB Foods lift its revenues July 12, 2012 ASSOCIATED British Foods yesterday said it was on track for a big rise in full-year adjusted earnings as cash-strapped shoppers braved wet weather to snap up budget fashions at its Primark clothing chain. The FTSE 100 company, which also owns brands such as Silver Spoon sugar and Twinings tea, said a 16 per cent growth [...]
No profit warning for Carrefour as trading still weak in Eurozone July 12, 2012 CARREFOUR, Europe’s biggest retailer, defied fears of another profit warning yesterday, sending its shares soaring as new management said that while trading remained weak in austerity-hit countries like Spain and Italy, it was not getting worse. The French group said it was “comfortable” with the market consensus for 2012 earnings before interest and taxes of [...]
SAP defies technology gloom with stronger software sales July 12, 2012 GERMANY’S SAP, the world’s largest maker of business software, yesterday delivered a stronger-than-expected rise in profits led by robust sales, defying a weakening trend that has hit rivals. SAP said its software revenues, when measured by IFRS accounting standards, rose 19 per cent to a record €1.06bn for the second-quarter. It had previously predicted a [...]
LONDON 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK July 12, 2012 THE Olympic flame visited Stonehenge this week, as the sprinter Michael Johnson took part in the fifty-fifth day of the torch relay. In total, the flame will visit more than 1,000 cities, towns and villages across the UK, and will be carried by 8,000 nominated bearers. Between now and the start of the Olympics, City [...]
Barratt to build 463 Fulham homes July 12, 2012 Housebuilder Barratt Developments announced yesterday that its subsidiary Barratt London, in partnership with L&Q, the housing association, has bought a derelict 8.5 acre site in Fulham from Sainsbury’s. It currently houses a Sainsbury’s store and car park and a large, derelict wharf building. Barratt is set to transform the £420m site into 463 riverside flats [...]
Qatari royals acquire Valentino July 12, 2012 Italian fashion house Valentino has been snapped up by the Qatari royal family for €700m (£552m), the latest purchase of a top European luxury brand by an emerging market investor. The haute couture label loved by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Audrey Hepburn said yesterday that Mayhoola for Investments S.P.C, an investment vehicle backed by a [...]
Betaworks to buy Digg for $500k July 12, 2012 New York technology development firm Betaworks is buying news-sharing website Digg for $500,000. Digg, an early social media company, was at one time valued at $164m. As of May, Digg was recorded as having an audience of more than 7m a month.
US job market upturn illusory warn analysts July 12, 2012 NEW JOBLESS claims dipped to a four-year low last week in the US, according to yesterday’s estimates from the Department of Labor. Dropping 24,000 in the week ending 30 June, initial claims last week reached just 350,000, adjusted for seasonal trends. But analysts warned the seasonal adjustment applied to the data disguised a jump of [...]
