Pernod fuelled by rise in demand from Chinese spirit drinkers February 17, 2011 FRENCH spirits manufacturer Pernod Ricard yesterday announced a strong rise in half-year profits for 2010 driven by growth in the expanding Chinese market. The firm reported half-year net profits of €666m (£560m) up from €604m the year before. Asian growth overall was particularly strong with sales up 29 per cent. Pernod said a gradual recovery [...]
Sports Direct sees sales forge ahead February 17, 2011 SPORTS Direct said yesterday it would meet its target for full-year profit, with trading still strong after a positive third quarter. The firm, controlled by Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, said total sales for the 13 weeks to 23 January increased 12.1 per cent to £416m. “Since the end of January, the group’s underlying performance [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: IS KINGFISHER’S RECOVERY SUSTAINABLE ? February 17, 2011 PHILIP DORGAN | ALTIUM SECURITIES Kingfisher could, over the long term, double its business in Poland and Spain, treble in Turkey and quadruple in Russia, with China moving towards profitability. It also has potential to improve profits further in the UK. All of this should drive decent earnings growth, cash generation and higher returns. KEITH [...]
Middle East shoppers boost UK February 17, 2011 Young tourists from the Middle East are flocking to the UK to buy designer goods, a retail survey said today. Sales to Middle Eastern customers were up 19 per cent in 2010 compared with the previous year, spending an average of £1,000 on shopping on each trip. The shoppers tend to come for a mini [...]
London is world’s shopping capital February 17, 2011 London beat Tokyo, New York and Paris to be the highest grossing city for retail sales in 2010, according to a study of 22 major worldwide shopping destinations by Britain’s Centre for Retail Research. The study, commissioned by comparison website Kelkoo, found London generated £64.2bn of non-food retail sales last year.
Virgin looks to businesses for growth February 17, 2011 CABLE-to-entertainment group Virgin Media yesterday reported quarterly revenue figures of £1bn, up from £941.3m a year ago, predicting strong growth from its business services division in the year ahead. Virgin chief executive Neil Berkett said the order book for business data services was up 40 per cent from a year ago and he said that [...]
EasyJet victory for Sir Stelios February 17, 2011 EASYJET shareholders, led by founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, gave the budget airline a bloody nose yesterday after withholding approval for last year’s board pay. Sir Stelios had called for investors to vote down the 2010 pay package, which gave former chief executive Andy Harrison a £1m lump sum on top of his salary even though [...]
BAE Systems hopes global sales will replace UK government defence cuts February 17, 2011 DEFENCE company BAE Systems said yesterday government spending cuts in the UK and the US are forcing it to do more deals with other countries including Saudi Arabia to stop its revenues tumbling. BAE warned in its full-year results yesterday that 2011 sales will be lower than last year, with US contracts worth £1.6bn coming [...]
Google buys Dublin tower February 17, 2011 GOOGLE is set to move into Dublin’s tallest commercial building after buying the tower from the Irish “bad bank”, the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), for €99.9m (£84.1m). The 15-storey Montevetro development was completed in January, and is down the road from Google’s existing Irish office on Barrow Street. Real Estate Opportunities, which built the [...]
Now is the time to buy shares cheaply if you share the glass half-full view February 17, 2011 SHAREHOLDERS took the glass half-empty view when interpreting BAE’s results, sending its shares down 4.2 per cent to 340.9p making it the FTSE’s largest faller yesterday. BAE’s caution – warning sales would be lower this year as defence cuts in the UK and US hit home – gave jittery investors an excuse to sell. But [...]
