Matalan warns of tough times ahead October 18, 2011 RETAILER Matalan said yesterday it remained cautious on its outlook after reported a 63 per cent fall in earnings for the second quarter. Ebitda – Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation – plunged to £13.6m in the 13 weeks to 17 August. Matalan blamed the tough climate, promotional activity and higher input costs. Total revenue dropped [...]
Danone upbeat amid talk of water disposal October 18, 2011 FRENCH food group Danone gave a confident outlook for 2012 yesterday and said its water business was “still strategic”, playing down a report it was in talks on a disposal. The world’s largest yoghurt maker, whose brands include Actimel and Activia, said it was positive for next year on the back of robust growth in [...]
BlackBerry suffers more than its parent brand October 18, 2011 ONE benefit of daily trackers such as YouGov’s BrandIndex is that you can immediately measure the impact of a crisis – comparing where the brand was prior to a problem, to perception within 24 hours, and then its status during the recovery period and beyond. Last week millions of BlackBerry users were unable to use [...]
SocialGo soars on product launch October 18, 2011 SocialGo, the developer and provider of software that allows groups to build their own online social networks, yesterday released its new social networking software product. The launch of SocialGO Version 2 sent shares on the rise, to close up by almost 20 per cent. The new product allows customers to build entire websites and can [...]
BBX operating system unveiled October 18, 2011 Research In Motion will introduce souped-up operating software for its BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook tablet designed to make both more formidable competitors to Apple and Google devices. At a developers conference in San Francisco, the Canadian company said yesterday it would install its new BBX platform in next-generation devices but provided no timetable.
£250,000 for a plan to exit the Eurozone October 18, 2011 ECONOMISTS have been challenged to create a plan for the orderly exit of countries from the Eurozone, with a prize sponsored by Next chief executive Lord Wolfson, the peer announced today. “There is a very real possibility of a Eurozone collapse, and a disorderly rout represents the worst possible option which would put at risk [...]
Daimler maintains outlook October 18, 2011 Daimler said yesterday it would keep its 2011 outlook, pouring cold water on market talk it may have to cut its guidance. “We don’t have the intention to lower our outlook,” a Daimler spokesman said. Daimler also said it had dismissed Ernst Lieb, the head of Mercedes-Benz USA, with immediate effect and gave no reasons [...]
EFG plans restructuring October 18, 2011 Private bank EFG International said it will look to cut jobs, sell its financial products unit and close several booking centres and offices as part of a restructuring launched under new chief executive John Williamson. The Switzerland-listed bank will slash 10-15 per cent of jobs in the next 18 months to reduce costs and return [...]
RSM Tenon finance boss quits October 18, 2011 RSM TENON finance director Russell McBurnie has stepped down after three years in the job. He will be replaced by former PA Consulting chief financial officer Adrian Gardner. It is understood McBurnie will remain at the accountancy giant in a lesser role. RSM Tenon chairman Bob Morton said: “Gardner’s experience and insight will help us achieve [...]
Hedgies beat shares but still lose money October 18, 2011 HEDGE funds outperformed equities in September, according to data released yesterday, although most managers still lost money. All strategies managed to post better returns than the S&P 500, which plunged by 7.03 per cent last month, the EDHEC-Risk institute said. However, on average, managers pursuing a short-selling strategy were the only ones to post positive [...]
