LONDON 2012 IMAGE OF THE WEEK May 17, 2012 IN a ceremony in Athens yesterday, the Olympic flame was handed over to a delegation led by Princess Anne. Accompanied by David Beckham, it will travel to the UK on a specially painted golden British Airways plane. Nicknamed the Firefly, the plane will land in Cornwall, where the Torch will begin its 70 day journey [...]
TalkTalk raises dividend after its profits soar May 17, 2012 TALKTALK yesterday unveiled plans to increase its dividend after its pre-tax profits more than doubled last year. In a bullish trading update, the telecoms group reported annual pre-tax profits rose to £127m from £57m the year before, with ebitda up 18 per cent to £326m. “We have delivered our 20 per cent ebitda margin target [...]
Euromoney beats outlook and sees opportunities in Greek exit May 17, 2012 EUROMONEY, the financial information arm of Daily Mail & General Trust, yesterday reported a 13 per cent rise in first-half sales, boosted by acquisitions, and said current trading was in line with its expectations. Euromoney, one of Europe’s biggest business and financial magazine publishers, said it would continue to pursue its selective acquisition strategy and [...]
Sheffield firm WANDisco set to raise £10m from AIM flotation May 17, 2012 SOFTWARE firm WANDisco yesterday announced its intention to raise £10m in a flotation on London’s AIM market at the beginning of June and use the money to fund expansion. The company, which has bases in Yorkshire and Silicon Valley, provides software development tools to firms such as Hewlett Packard, Motorola and Honda, enabling engineers to [...]
VICTORIA’S SECRET OWNER DISAPPOINTS STREET May 17, 2012 LIMITED Brands, parent of the Victoria’s Secret lingerie store chain, posted a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street’s view but its shares fell after its forecast for the current quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. The company reported first-quarter net profit of $124.6m, or 41 cents per share, and net sales slipped to $2.15bn from [...]
Merrill Lynch makes powerful hires May 17, 2012 Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) yesterday said it had hired three Credit Suisse bankers to boost its US power and renewables team. The bank said Ray Wood, Gavin Wolfe and Jason Satsky will join in August. BoAML said that it has consistently been among the top three banks for US power and renewables transactions.
Record results for Paddy Power May 17, 2012 Paddy Power yesterday reported record turnover of €4.6bn and operating profit of €120m for fiscal 2011. The gambling company increased its full year dividend by a third to 100 cents per share and said net revenue was up 28 per cent so far in 2010.
Johnston Press grows digital sales May 17, 2012 Johnston Press yesterday posted a two per cent drop in circulation revenue for the first 18 weeks of the year. The publishing group, where digital revenues rose 13.9 per cent but advertising revenues dropped 9.1 per cent, also said it will launch an online used car sales service together with Motors.co.uk.
Bullish Gap ups profit forecast May 17, 2012 Clothing retailer Gap yesterday upped its profit forecast for the full year to $1.78 to $1.83 a share, above the $1.75 to $1.80 it had forecast in February after a strong first quarter. For the first quarter ended 28 April, Gap earned $233m, or 47 cents a share, compared with $233m, or 40 cents a [...]
Marston’s gets a lift from drive to up food sales May 17, 2012 PUB and brewing group Marston’s reported a rise in profits yesterday, which it attributed to its strategy of increasing food sales and targeting family consumers searching for value in a struggling economy. Marston’s underlying profit before tax rose nearly 15 per cent to £33.5m in the half-year ending 31 March. The company credited its “F-Plan” [...]
