Mothercare to close 110 stores as profit tumbles May 18, 2011 MOTHERCARE is to close over a quarter of its British stores as a collapse in UK profits eclipsed growth in overseas franchising. The firm, which issued profit warnings in both January and March, said yesterday that it would shrink its in-town store estate within two years by taking advantage of 120 lease expiries. It said [...]
SHUTTERS COME DOWN | THE HIGH STREET CLOSURES TAKING THEIR TOLL ON TOWN CENTRES May 18, 2011 MOTHERCARE Mothercare has seeen profit drop and is cutting costs. It is taking advantage of lease expiries to close stores. Its UK performance has been particularly poor. Total: 110 closures HMV The CD and DVD retailer has been hit by the move to downloads and its turnaround plan has been difficult to implement amid a [...]
Dealmakers return to UK M&A market May 18, 2011 THE TOTAL value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals by companies in the UK in the first-quarter of this year has shot up by 63 per cent on the same period a year earlier, a new report has found. In a return to dealmaking in Britain, the total value of M&A transactions hit £23.2bn in [...]
Unions are right: United we stand, divided we fall May 18, 2011 TRADE unions might have adopted it as their rallying cry, but that doesn’t mean it is untrue. Indeed, it is applicable to much of life: united we stand, and divided we fall. It is the principle that underpins unions and countries and coalition governments, and failure to appreciate it drove swathes of the globe into [...]
Staples disappoints Wall Street May 18, 2011 US stationery group Staples slashed its full-year forecast and said it would open fewer stores than it had planned after its quarterly results missed Wall Street estimates yesterday. The company said it sees full-year net earnings of $1.35 to $1.45 a share, down from its prior view of $1.50 to $1.60. Staples’ net profit rose [...]
Hedge funds fail to match market May 18, 2011 Hedge funds operating a convertible arbitrage strategy have failed to take advantage of strong performance in the convertible bond market, according to research by EDHEC-Risk out yesterday. Convertible arbitrage strategies saw returns of just 0.12 per cent in April, despite a 2.68 per cent return score for convertible bonds. Hedge funds have also struggled against [...]
London listing for Qatari Amaal May 18, 2011 Qatari conglomerate Amaal is planning to sell up to $600m (£371m) in shares on the London Stock Exchange. The company, which owns a range of industrial businesses and holds a property portfolio, is valued at about $2.4bn. The allotment will be offered in the form of global depository receipts (GDR) to institutional investors.
Deere & Co takes hit on Japan May 18, 2011 Deere & Co, the world’s largest maker of farm equipment, yesterday gave a 2011 forecast that was slightly below expectations, citing income lost from Japan’s earthquake. Net earnings rose 65 per cent to $904.3m (£560m), or $2.12 per share,from $547.5m, or $1.28 per share a year earlier.
Icap boosted by electronic broking arm May 18, 2011 ICAP, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, yesterday revealed record profits in its electronic broking business, representing a hike in demand for super-fast derivatives trading. Profits at the firm’s electronic brokerage unit jumped 23 per cent to £123m, contributing more than a third of the group’s £350m profit for the 12 months to the end of [...]
AMEC buys US peer to expand in North America May 18, 2011 OIL services and engineering firm AMEC has bought US industrial peer MACTEC for $280m (£173m) as it looks to expand its presence in North America. The British company bought the environmental services firm from its private equity backers in a cash deal. Georgia-based MACTEC has some 2,600 employees and 70 offices across the east coast [...]
