New Look to raise prices as the cost of cotton rockets November 11, 2010 BUDGET retailer New Look yesterday warned that its prices would be hiked by up to eight per cent as the cost of cotton continued to surge. The company, which provides cut-price fashions to young shoppers, saw UK sales drop 4.5 per cent in the 26 weeks to 25 September. Chief executive Carl McPhail said price [...]
Dairy Crest secures Tesco deal November 11, 2010 Dairy Crest yesterday reported a five per cent increase in first-half underlying pre-tax profit as sales of its key brands grew and it increased sales of fresh milk to major retailers. The company made an underlying pre-tax profit of £40.1m in the half year to the end of September, up from £38.1m the year before. [...]
Waitrose sees sales rise November 11, 2010 Waitrose sales rose by nine per cent in the third quarter as the mild weather fuelled sales of unseasonal products including salad and ice cream. The retailer – which does not issue quarterly profit figures – said sales for the three months to the end of October had been buoyant. On a like-for-like basis its [...]
Demand from Asia pushes 3i earnings up November 11, 2010 PRIVATE equity firm 3i Group said a manufacturing recovery, driven by demand from Asia and South America, pushed earnings higher at its portfolio companies as it reported half-year earnings yesterday. The group said aggregate earnings across its buyouts portfolio grew by eight per cent between March and September, while its growth capital portfolio saw a [...]
African Minerals raises £191m November 11, 2010 CONTROVERSIAL businessman Frank Timis’ mining company plans to raise $800m (£496m) in a debt and equity issue to fund its iron ore project in Sierra Leone. Aim-listed African Minerals said yesterday it has raised £191m through a share placing and hopes to secure a $500m (£310m) loan facility. The proceeds will finance the remaining construction [...]
Long Run can prove that he’s the real deal November 11, 2010 AFTER spending two days trying to find a horse to beat Nicky Henderson’s LONG RUN in tomorrow’s Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham, I have now finally given up. The French bred five-year-old is the apple of his trainer’s eye and set pulses racing with a breathtaking debut over fences in the Feltham at Kempton [...]
ICBC looks to strengthen balance sheet through £4bn discounted rights issue November 11, 2010 INDUSTRIAL and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) yesterday revealed plans to raise 45bn yuan (£4.2bn) through a rights issue this month to replenish capital. ICBC, which first unveiled the plan in July, is the last among China’s Big Four state banks to raise funds to strengthen balance sheets weakened by last year’s lending binge aimed [...]
O2 gains customers and aims for smartphone sales November 11, 2010 MOBILE phone operator O2 plans to increase its investment in its network to support demand from a growing number of smartphones, it said in its quarterly results yesterday. The UK’s second-biggest phone firm, owned by Spain’s Telefonica, posted revenue for the nine months to September of €5.3bn (£4.5bn), up 5.6 per cent on last year. [...]
3i November 11, 2010 MICHAEL Queen, 3i’s chief executive, has been quietly repairing the firm’s balance sheet since he arrived in January 2009. Yesterday, he was keen to signal a change in direction; having spent over a year preparing for growth, he said he would now start delivering it. There is some evidence to suggest the new era has [...]
Hundreds more job losses at Rok November 11, 2010 Collapsed housing repair firm Rok will lose 268 more jobs on top of the 700 cuts already announced, administrator PwC said yesterday. The job cuts will fall in the Scottish plumbing, heating and electrical business. PwC said it was forced to make the redundancies after talks with potential buyers of the business fell through on [...]
