New guidance to stop future PPI scandals January 24, 2013 FINANCE firms looking to sell payment protection products in future should take care to properly identify their customers and check the product does what the customer thinks it does, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said yesterday. The new guidelines are intended to explain to firms how they can avoid [...]
Icap confirms probe over Libor January 24, 2013 ICAP confirmed yesterday it was being investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) over Libor setting, making the world’s largest broker the first non-bank to confirm it has been linked with the scandal over fixing the lending rate. As an inter-dealer broker, Icap acts as an intermediary between the world’s largest investment banks, many of [...]
Starbucks grinds out revenue increase but UK disappoints January 24, 2013 COFFEE chain Starbucks pleased investors yesterday posting a rise in earnings per share after releasing results in line with Wall Street’s expectations. The coffee brewer, which started in 1971 in Seattle, posted net revenue figures of $3.8bn (£2.4bn), up 11 per cent for the three months ending December. In the UK, the group said the [...]
Boss at Punch trades pints for Greggs pasties January 24, 2013 PUNCH TAVERNS boss Roger Whiteside will give up happy hours for elevenses when he becomes the new chief executive of bakery chain Greggs next month. Whiteside, who has been a non-executive director at Greggs since 2008, will succeed Ken McMeikan on 4 February, the firm said yesterday. McMeikan, who drove the government to retreat on [...]
Wandisco leads the way for UK technology flotations January 24, 2013 We have already seen the likes of Luxfer, Edwards and Manchester United list in New York when they might have been expected to grace the London flotation markets. Now there are rumblings that Intelligent Energy, a clean energy technology, might look overseas for a listing if it chooses to go for one. And my fellow [...]
Irn Bru maker AG Barr expects revenue growth as merger nears January 24, 2013 AG BARR, the maker of soft drinks Irn Bru, Tizer and Rubicon, yesterday said it expected to have outperformed the soft drinks market in its final quarter despite a summer of bad weather. The company, which is awaiting approval from the Office of Fair Trading on its merger with rival Britvic, anticipates total sales in [...]
St James’s Place up as investors gain confidence January 24, 2013 INVESTMENT manager St James’s Place yesterday reported a substantial hike in fourth-quarter sales, as wealthy customers regained confidence in the economy. “Investor sentiment is up,” chief executive David Bellamy told City A.M. “People are settling down and adjusting to the new normal – interest rates will stay low. They’ve got to get on with their lives.” [...]
EasyJet set to narrow losses as traffic rises January 24, 2013 BUDGET airline EasyJet’s push to attract more cost-conscious business travellers has helped the firm deliver a 9.2 per cent rise in quarterly revenues to £833m. Passenger numbers rose 6.2 per cent to 13.7m while revenues per seat jumped 3.9 per cent to an average of £53.87 in the final three months of 2012, the firm [...]
Analyst Views | What do you make of Easyjet’s update? January 24, 2013 PETER HYDE LIBERUM Revenue was strong; average revenue per seat at constant currency +8% – driven by tight industry capacity and the final quarter of the switch from a credit card charge to a higher admin fee. Lack of disruption would have helped profit before tax. RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The share price has been [...]
Christmas sales growth fizzles out in January January 24, 2013 RETAIL sales growth slowed this month, a leading business survey showed yesterday, although the figures were still slightly better than downbeat shops had feared. For the first two weeks of the year 41 per cent of retailers reported rising sales compared with the same period of last year, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) study [...]
