B&Q looks to World Cup to kick-off sales June 3, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher said yesterday it was pinning its hopes on the World Cup to fuel a sales rise after a first quarter blighted by poor weather. The group said it had almost sold out of a garden gnome dressed in the England team kit ahead of the tournament and was also selling wheelbarrows and [...]
Real Good Food makes a solid start June 3, 2010 SUGAR and bakery ingredients company Real Good Food’s results for the first four months of the year were above expectations, the company said yesterday. Chairman Pieter Totté said the group’s performance had been fuelled by Renshaws, its baking ingredients business. Meanwhile expansion at Hayden’s, its bakery products business, was also contributing. He said: “I am [...]
Young’s sees cask ale refresh profits June 3, 2010 YOUNG’S reported a better-than-expected full-year pre-tax profit yesterday – fuelled by cask ale and food sales. The company, which operates 219 pubs, saw pre-tax profit of £19.4m in the year to 29 March. In the first eight weeks of the current year, Young’s said comparable sales at its 120 managed pubs, which are directly operated [...]
ANALYST VIEWS:?WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF YOUNG’S RESULTS IN THE STRUGGLING PUB SECTOR? June 3, 2010 MARK BRUMBY | LANGTON CAPITAL “The brewery operation Wells & Young has once again turned in a ‘solid’ performance and the tenanted operation has been ‘comparatively strong’ and produced like-for-like revenue growth with volumes little changed. Young’s is well-positioned to meet the challenges that the trade will face during 2010 and beyond.” PAUL HICKMAN | [...]
Matthey hits full-year goal June 3, 2010 JOHNSON Matthey, the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters, expects good progress in the first half of 2010/11 while considerable short-term uncertainties about the global economy remained. Underlying pre-tax profit declined five per cent to £254.1m in the year to the end of March as vehicle production was slashed amid the global recession. Ten analysts [...]
This is one the Premier League needs to lose June 3, 2010 THESE are economically straitened times. Times when the Cabinet takes a five per cent pay cut and the governor of the Bank of England refuses a pay rise for this year and even the year after. But in the world of football, for the high-earning players and managers alike, life seems to be going on [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS June 3, 2010 VIVENDI JP Morgan Cazenove has issued Vivendi with an “overweight” rating noting that management has indicated several times this year its willingness to acquire the 44 per cent of French mobile operator, SFR it does not own. JP Morgan believes that this could take place later this year or early next year after the completion [...]
FTSE 100 breaks out of a losing streak on hopes of strong American jobs data June 3, 2010 BRITAIN’S top shares snapped out of a three-session losing streak yesterday as hopes of strong jobs data from the US spurred sentiment, sending investors bargain hunting in commodity-linked stocks and banks. The FTSE 100 ended up 59.86 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5,211.18, closing at a two-week high but falling back from an intra-day [...]
Wall Street makes gains as technology stocks soar June 3, 2010 US stocks rose yesterday, led by a late-day surge in technology shares as investors geared up for what is expected to be a strong unemployment report today Stocks moved up and down throughout the session, shifting between optimism and pessimism on a variety of factors, including technical resistance at the S&P 200-day moving average, the [...]
Choosing the right lender is crucial in a tough market June 3, 2010 HOUSES are selling like hotcakes thanks to fierce competition among buyers. The latest monthly survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed that houses are shifting quicker than new ones could come on to the market, despite the number of new sellers increasing. Even the dreaded gazumping is back. In such a market, [...]
