Burberry in deal to launch sales in Saudi March 28, 2011 LUXURY UK brand Burberry has agreed a joint venture with Saudi-based retailer Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair to market and sell its products. Alhokair will hold a 40 per cent stake in the new company, though the value of the deal was not disclosed yesterday. Shareholders reacted well to the news, with Burberry one of the best [...]
BAT aims for new markets as smuggling dents growth March 28, 2011 BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT) yesterday said a rise in cigarette smuggling and the wider decline in smoking across the developed world continue to press down on growth. Group sales by volume fell three per cent during 2010, though price rises more than offset the decline to deliver a five per cent revenue rise to £14.9bn, [...]
Irn-Bru ups AG Barr revenues March 28, 2011 DRINKS group AG Barr is upbeat about its near-term prospects despite cost pressures, and plans to ramp up investment in Irn-Bru and other key brands, and focus on expansion within the UK. The company said yesterday its sales in the first eight weeks of the current financial year were ahead of the same period last [...]
Oddbins enters administration March 28, 2011 WINE seller Oddbins has applied to enter an administration process, as it seeks to protect itself from creditor claims while launching a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). The off-licence is seeking an agreement with its creditors to save the struggling business, and needs 75 per cent approval of the CVA at a shareholder meeting at the [...]
Pubs call last orders as supermarkets take trade March 28, 2011 THOUSANDS of pubs and bars are facing closing time for good, with the number of establishments handing back their licences doubling over the last three years. Sweet &?Maxwell, the legal analyst, said that 5,700 licences were surrendered in the last 12 months, an increase of 13 per cent and more than double the amount in [...]
CITY VIEWS: DOES THE LOCAL BRITISH PUB HAVE A FUTURE? March 28, 2011 Save or Borrow peer to peer at RateSetter.com TOM JOY | PWC “Yes. This question has been asked since the smoking ban. But pubs will always have a future, especially in central London as they are a convenient hub for meeting people.” ANDREW SINCLAIR | CHUBB “I think the number of drinkers will fall significantly [...]
JP Morgan wins top spot for advisory March 28, 2011 JP MORGAN cruised to first place in the global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rankings for the first quarter of 2011 released by Dealogic yesterday, pushing Goldman into runner-up position. Goldman fell in the US M&A rankings as well, down to fifth place versus its place in the top spot last year. But the Dealogic tables [...]
Goldman gets off to a slow start in the M&A leagues March 28, 2011 Maybe it just says something about the company I’m keeping but I’ve recently been drawn into countless discussions about the relative underperformance of Goldman Sachs in the latest Thomson Reuters mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rankings. In the worldwide category, Goldman, normally such a predictable M&A machine, slumped from first to fourth. In M&A with a [...]
WOMEN ON TOP AT THE OSCARS OF THE ENTREPRENEURIAL WORLD March 28, 2011 WILL business women ever win the Board game? The answer is an emphatic yes, as proved by the trailblazing trajectory of Michelle McDowell of engineer BDP, who was last night crowned Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year. As chair of civil and structural engineering, McDowell helped increase BDP’s turnover to £96m through her involvement [...]
Assets dip at Aberdeen but inflows jump March 28, 2011 FUND manager Aberdeen Asset Management said sales of equity funds more than offset outflows from other asset classes in the first two months of 2011, bringing net inflows to £200m . At 28 February, Aberdeen had total assets under management (AUM) of £176.2bn, down four per cent on the same period last year due to [...]
