Olympic chair joins National Express board November 27, 2012 THE HEAD of the Olympic Delivery Authority has been picked to chair transport group National Express. Sir John Armitt was yesterday unveiled as the rail and bus firm’s new chairman from 1 February, replacing John Devaney, who is leaving after four years to focus on other roles. The engineering stalwart has chaired the ODA since [...]
Insurer Standard Life unveils details of £500m bond issue November 27, 2012 EDINBURGH-based Standard Life yesterday unveiled a £500m bond issue as the firm looks to improve its balance sheet. The life insurer and pension provider is enjoying a purple patch, with its shares up 50 per cent since June and analysts believe its business model is well-placed to deal with forthcoming regulatory changes. “We have taken [...]
Better Capital’s £10m shareholder payback November 27, 2012 LISTED private equity firm Better Capital, founded by UK venture capitalist Jon Moulton, is expected to pay its first dividend to shareholders early next year after announcing plans for a £10.4m payback from its first investment fund. The turnaround specialist, which owns fashion retailer Jaeger and publisher Reader’s Digest among others, said it anticipated a [...]
On-the-move Brits keep De La Rue and Greencore happy November 27, 2012 DAVID Miles must be De La Rue’s favourite member of the Bank of England’s MPC. Last week’s minutes showed Miles was the only member of the committee to vote for more quantitative easing – hardly encouraging for a firm that relies on money printing for a chunk of its income. Unfortunately for De La Rue, [...]
Bond bosses back Congress to avoid cliff November 27, 2012 EUROPEAN bond managers have backed US politicians to avert the country’s $600bn (£375bn) fiscal cliff before the turn of next year, after a survey from rating agency Fitch revealed 82 per cent of bond fund executives said they were confident a deal would be struck. The Fitch study, which polled 97 high level bond fund [...]
Emerging fund sales top list of popular assets November 27, 2012 PEOPLE seeking more return on their personal investments sent emerging market equities soaring to the top of a list of the best selling asset classes for the first time last month, data out yesterday revealed. Low interest rates in the developed world helped drive retail investors to pour £228m into the global emerging market sector [...]
Britvic profits fall after Fruit Shoot blunder November 27, 2012 BRITVIC, the soft drinks maker merging with AG Barr, yesterday blamed the costly recall of its Robinsons Fruit Shoot drinks earlier this summer for a 19 per cent slump in full-year profit. The company said the blunder dragged group revenue down 0.8 per cent at constant currencies to £1.3bn in the year to 30 September [...]
Topps Tiles enjoys first increase in overall revenue in five years November 27, 2012 FLOORING specialist Topps Tiles has managed to buck the gloom and return a £12.5m profit after like-for-like sales bounced back in the second half of the year. The FTSE 250 retailer reported a seven per cent slump in like-for-like sales in the first half but swung back into positive territory with a 3.5 per cent [...]
Greencore strikes up sandwich deal with Starbucks’ US stores November 27, 2012 GREENCORE yesterday announced it has struck a $50m (£30m) deal to supply Starbucks’ stores in the US, as the food group revealed a 21 per cent rise in full-year profits. The Dublin-based group said the partnership will see it produce sandwiches for all of the coffee giant’s east coast stores except Manhattan, a major coup [...]
Prime London housing boom to slow down November 27, 2012 THE CURRENT explosion in Prime London house prices cannot be sustained into the next few years, Marsh & Parsons said yesterday. Prime London house price growth will slow down to between three per cent and five per cent next year, the estate agent forecast, after expansion running at 11.1 per cent over the past 12 [...]
