OLYMPUS OFFICES AND HOMES RAIDED December 21, 2011 DOZENS of black-suited investigators raided the office building of three small Olympus subsidiaries yesterday, one of 20 sites searched in a probe of a $1.7bn accounting scandal that threatens the Japanese camera-maker’s survival. Other teams were seen waiting to be buzzed inside a luxury condominium – the home of a former company president. Picture: REUTERS
Shoppers lose sweet tooth for Thorntons December 21, 2011 CHOCOLATE maker Thorntons has warned that full-year profits will fall short of expectations, blaming weak consumer confidence and frenzied discounting among rival retailers in the run-up to Christmas. Shares plunged 37.5 per cent after the confectionary chain said it now only expects to break even for the year to 30 June 2012, before taxation, exceptionals [...]
Mulberry bags chief from rival Hermes December 21, 2011 LUXURY handbag and leather goods maker Mulberry has poached Bruno Guillon, the managing director of French rival Hermes, to help drive the group’s international expansion into Asia and the US. Guillon, 46, will become the brand’s first non-British chief executive, joining in March next year after 10 years at the family-owned fashion house Hermes, where [...]
Barratts to cut 170 jobs before Christmas Eve December 21, 2011 BARRATTS Priceless, the ailing footwear company, will shut 18 stores before Christmas, resulting in the loss of 170 jobs, its administrators said yesterday. Deloitte, which has been trying to find a buyer “for all or part of the rest of the business” as a going concern, said five Barratts shops and 13 Priceless stores will [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: CAN THORNTONS SURVIVE IN THE TOUGH RETAIL CLIMATE? December 21, 2011 DAVID JEARY | INVESTEC We infer… a mixture of both sales and gross margin weakness has prompted the revised PBT guidance… We understand that covenants would not be breached at the projected level of guidance. AMISHA CHOHAH | MERCHANT SECURITIES The high gearing, with net debt of £24.5m in 2011 and set to grow further, [...]
Facebook to allow news feed ads December 21, 2011 Sponsored adverts will soon start to pop up in the news feeds of Facebook’s 800m users. The social network will allow advertisers to target campaigns at specific demographics in a way that critics say will be far more intrusive than the status quo. A Facebook spokesman said the firm will roll out the next generation [...]
Ogfem fines firms for gas delays December 21, 2011 Ofgem has fined National Grid and Northern Gas for failing to respond to gas leaks quickly enough. National Grid will pay £4.3m and Northern Gas £900,000 for failing to get to 97 per cent of uncontrolled gas leaks within an hour. Ofgem said the fines would have been higher if the firms had not co-operated [...]
Call to clean up insolvency fees December 21, 2011 Insolvency professionals will have to answer to a new independent watchdog if the industry does not tackle excessive fees and overhaul its own regulations, the government said yesterday. Insolvency minister Ed Davey said charges need to be more transparent, possibly through a new law if the sector fails to clean up its own act. A [...]
Hardy again in sights of rival Beazley December 21, 2011 BRITISH insurer Beazley is hatching a new plan to take over Hardy Underwriting, a year after abandoning an initial move on its smaller rival. The potential bid would comes at a time of consolidation in the Lloyd’s of London insurance market. Beazley revealed it was interested in talks following Hardy’s announcement this month of a [...]
CITY VIEWS: DO YOU FEEL MORE INCLINED BE CHARITABLE AT CHRISTMAS? December 21, 2011 SHAKTI ANAND TATA CONSULTANCY “Yes, I carry out a lot of charitable actions at Christmas time. I like to make a visible difference as it gives me satisfaction over the holiday period.” ALAN CULLEN LAING O’ROURKE “Definitely, it is the Christian thing to do. It is a time for being with the family, which makes [...]
