St Ives enjoys earnings jump October 4, 2011 BRITISH printing firm St Ives posted a 28 per cent rise in annual profits yesterday, helped by its shift towards the higher-margin marketing services unit, adding that it will look at more acquisitions in the business. The group, which prints 160m books each year from the Bible to bestsellers like Harry Potter, also raised its [...]
Europe’s airlines hit by turbulence in US October 4, 2011 EUROPEAN airline shares followed US counterparts in a downward spiral yesterday as investors’ confidence in the sector ebbed away. International passenger numbers across airlines dropped in August, a month that traditionally provides a boost with summer holidays in full swing. Air France-KLM was down more than nine per cent as the sector took a hammering [...]
Aldi revenues up as shoppers eye deals October 4, 2011 PROFITS at Aldi have jumped as British shoppers increasingly hunting for ways to cut their shopping bills. Discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl have stolen market share from the likes of Tesco, as “the squeezed middle” – which Tesco believes constitutes 80 per cent of its customer base – look to cut down on household expenditures. [...]
MULBERRY AIMS TO BE BIG IN JAPAN WITH A RAFT OF NEW OPENINGS October 4, 2011 MULBERRY has clinched a distribution deal that will see its products sold in Japanese department stores and flagship shops opened in Tokyo and Osaka. The company said yesterday it had agreed a deal with a joint venture owned by Club 21 and Mammina, a unit of Japanese department store chain Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings. The 10-year [...]
Overseas sales boost Walker Greenback October 4, 2011 LUXURY wallpaper and soft furnishings group Walker Greenbank yesterday reported a 13 per cent rise in profits thanks to expanding international sales. The group held two big launches early in the year for Morris & Co and the Harlequin Momentum collection, which fuelled a rise in sales. Group revenues rose 11 per cent to £37.4m, [...]
Gucci and Tiffany in China bank spat October 4, 2011 European luxury-goods conglomerate Gucci Group and American jewellery house Tiffany have each alleged in federal court that major Chinese state-owned banks are maintaining bank accounts for counterfeiters in China who are shipping fake designer goods into the US. The banks – Bank of China, China Merchants Bank and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China [...]
Volvo revamps truck business October 4, 2011 Swedish truck maker Volvo said yesterday it will shake up its truck business. Under the revamp, sales and marketing of all of the truck companies will be put into three regional units. Responsibility for the group’s joint ventures will be organised in a new unit, Truck Joint Ventures, under the leadership of Par Ostberg, who [...]
Inflation hits a three-year high in OECD October 4, 2011 PRICES rose at their highest level since October 2008 in the twelve months to August, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revealed yesterday. Consumer price index (CPI) inflation accelerated to 3.2 per cent over the year across the 34 member countries, up from 3.1 per cent in the year to July. Energy and [...]
Pause tax to boost jobs, say recruiters October 4, 2011 THE SLOWEST growth in job vacancies for two years was recorded in September by the KPMG/Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) monthly report on jobs, out today. For permanent staff placements the report’s index has fallen to 51.2, down from 60.6 in April. REC boss Kevin Green is calling on the chancellor to pause national insurance [...]
Construction flat-lines on stagnant housing market October 4, 2011 FLAT activity in the construction sector in September was revealed yesterday by Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI). A sharp fall from 52.6 in August to 50.1 in September was recorded, bringing the sector closer to the 50 threshold that separates growth from contraction. “UK construction companies continued to struggle in the face of growing concerns [...]
