Booker profits jump by a quarter October 13, 2011 Britain’s biggest cash and carry wholesaler Booker posted a 22 per cent rise in first-half profit and said a wider product range, reduced prices and improved customer service would help it cope in a tough economic backdrop. Booker made pre-tax profits of £45m in the 24 weeks to 9 September, up from £36.9m in the [...]
Liberty sees sales increase October 13, 2011 Department store Liberty has reported a hike in sales for the first half of the year as it revealed plans for a store revamp. The London-based store’s revenue jumped 16 per cent for the six months to 31 July. Owner and chairman Marco Capello said: “These extremely positive results have given us even more confidence [...]
AOL boss still hopeful of a Yahoo merger October 13, 2011 AOL boss Tim Armstrong (pictured) has held meetings with shareholders over the potential benefits of a merger with struggling internet giant Yahoo. Armstrong is keen to keep the potential deal on the table despite Yahoo appearing to cool on it. Supporters of the merger say it could wring out up to $1.5bn (£960m) in savings. [...]
BlackBerry users see their handsets crawl back to life October 13, 2011 BLACKBERRY users across the world saw their services crawl to life yesterday after three days of outages. After facing criticism for failing to address users, many of whom had no access to data services, co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis profusely apologised for his company’s failures on the company’s web-site and on YouTube. “I apologise for the [...]
City gets free wi-fi extension October 13, 2011 THE CLOUD, the free public wi-fi provider snapped up by BSkyB earlier this year for around £50m, has won a five-year extension to its contract with the City of London to provide the Square Mile with free outdoor wi-fi access. The Cloud says it will quadruple its wi-fi output in the area through a major [...]
Apple wins ban on Samsung Tab October 13, 2011 A COURT slapped a temporary ban on the sale of Samsung Electronics’ latest computer tablet in Australia yesterday, handing rival Apple another legal victory in the two firms’ global patent war. Resolution of the case could take months, which, in the fast-moving industry, could mean the new Galaxy tablet is never launched in Australia.
Mouchel set to breach its covenants October 13, 2011 British infrastructure and maintenance group Mouchel said yesterday it was in talks with its lending banks regarding expected covenant breaches caused by a profit warning last week, and named a new interim chairman after incumbent Bo Lerenius resigned. “The board is encouraged that the banks have been supportive and the discussions continue to be constructive [...]
Rabobank in talks to sell its stake in Swiss bank Sarasin October 13, 2011 DUTCH lender Rabobank is in talks with several potential buyers of its controlling stake in Sarasin, the Swiss private bank said yesterday. Swiss newspapers reported that both Julius Baer and cooperative bank Raiffeisen were considering offers for Sarasin. Rabobank owns 46 per cent of Sarasin’s capital and about 68 per cent of voting rights. “At [...]
Grainger sees a house sale jump October 13, 2011 PROPERTY developer Grainger yesterday said its sales were up by almost a quarter to £223m in the year to September, as sales of property occupied by businesses rose 60 per cent. Grainger, the UK’s biggest listed property owner, said its margins were better than in 2010 and it had started the new financial year with [...]
Renishaw falls as profits drop October 13, 2011 SHARES in engineering group Renishaw fell yesterday after it said first-quarter pre-tax profit dropped 10 per cent due to a slowdown in one of its product lines sold to the electronics industry. The FTSE 250 company, which makes and sells precision and inspection products for the healthcare and metrology businesses, also said it was reviewing [...]
