L’Oreal to buy back €500m shares February 11, 2013 L’Oreal unveiled plans yesterday to spend about a third of its net cash, or €500m (£428m), on buying back shares as it reported a small rebound in fourth-quarter sales. The world’s biggest cosmetics group said turnover in the three months to 31 December reached €5.7bn, up 5.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis, helped by [...]
Calling all real estate amateur Ascot jockeys February 11, 2013 THE ANNUAL Property Race Day is always a highly enjoyable fixture in the real estate industry calendar, as 700 thoroughbreds from the property world descend on Ascot for a day of racing and networking. However this year the best will be saved until last, as 12 brave real estate runners will be donning skullcaps and [...]
Who said money can’t buy love February 11, 2013 THERE are many ways to show your love to the object of your affection this Valentine’s Day. However, expressing it by “downloading a message for them on a Barclays personalised debit card” is perhaps not one of them. There are some things money can’t buy – but a thoughtful, romantic gift isn’t one of them. [...]
Quick change at Seymour Pierce office February 11, 2013 INVESTMENT bank Cantor Fitzgerald is not wasting any time after finalising the deal, late on Friday night, to buy Seymour Pierce – the old City stockbroker that was part-owned by well-known football financier Keith Harris. Even though the ink had barely dried on the deal, Seymour Pierce employees were already sending out emails this morning [...]
British Land in £143m bet on Ealing shoppers February 11, 2013 BRITISH LAND has snapped up a portfolio of London properties from Dutch investment firm Wereldhave for £183.8m, the property giant confirmed yesterday. The biggest asset in the portfolio is Ealing Broadway shopping centre in west London, which is anchored by retailers including Marks & Spencer and Primark and attracts 15m visitors each year. British Land [...]
Heathrow traffic edges higher as Gatwick slides in the snow February 11, 2013 PASSENGER traffic at Heathrow inched up in January, in spite of cancellations caused by snow flurries, the airport’s owner said yesterday. Heathrow Limited, owned by Spanish firm Ferrovial and formerly known as BAA, said 5.18m people used the UK’s busiest airport last month, up 0.3 per cent on a year ago. Domestic travel fell 5.8 [...]
Canada puts Grosvenor Square embassy up for sale February 11, 2013 THE CANADIAN government is set to put one of its London properties in Mayfair up for sale as part of a plan to consolidate its presence in one spot in the capital. Macdonald House in Grosvenor Square has been the High Commission’s headquarters since the early 1960s, when it was bought from the US government. [...]
More mobile payments lift Monitise sales February 11, 2013 MOBILE payments service Monitise yesterday reported half-year revenue up 63 per cent on the same period a year earlier as the number of transactions it processed quadrupled. The fast-growing company, which provides mobile payments for Visa and many UK high street banks, said its revenue was £27.8m for the six months to 31 December. It [...]
Blinkx shares boosted by online ad spending during US election February 11, 2013 SHARES in video search engine company Blinkx soared 25.74 per cent yesterday after the company raised its profit forecasts. The firm gave an upbeat trading report for the third quarter and said it now expects full-year revenue to be between $180m (£114.7m) and $185m. This is largely due to increased online advertising on the back [...]
Kofax issues a profit warning February 11, 2013 KOFAX, which provides smart process applications to businesses, yesterday reported a drop in revenue and lowered its earnings forecast for the year. Total revenue for the quarter ending 31 December fell to $63.7m (£40.7m) from $70m in the same quarter a year earlier. The company’s software licence revenue for the quarter decreased by 24.8 per [...]
