US Airways ends United talks April 22, 2010 US Airways called off merger discussions with rivals United Airlines’ parent company UAL yesterday. The latest talks marked the second round of merger discussions in as many years but in a statement issued by US Airways the group said: “After an extensive review and careful consideration, our board of directors has decided to discontinue those [...]
Arriva agrees to a £1.6bn German offer April 22, 2010 ARRIVA’S board agreed to be taken over by German rail operator Deutsche Bahn for £1.6bn yesterday. The UK rail and bus firm recommended a cash offer from Germany’s national rail operator, which will see Arriva shareholders receive 775p for every share they hold. “This offer fully reflects the value of the business we have built [...]
Eurotunnel profits rise as passenger and vehicle numbers continue to grow April 22, 2010 EUROTUNNEL, the group that operates the channel tunnel, saw quarterly revenue jump 10 per cent during the first quarter of the year boosted by a rise in train traffic. The firm said income had climbed to €130.1m (£112.7m), a rise on the same period last year. It added it had recently benefitted from a surge [...]
Punch pays price for pub bailout plans April 22, 2010 BRITAIN’S biggest pubs firm Punch Taverns yesterday reported a 20 per cent drop in first-half pre-tax profit and said it was paying £2m a month to bail out struggling tenants. The company, which has over 7,100 pubs, said pre-tax profit fell to £66m in the 28 weeks to 6 March compared with £82m the year [...]
Sports Direct keeps its eye on the ball with strong sales April 22, 2010 SPORTS Direct Britain’s biggest sporting goods retailer, is on track to meet its full-year earnings forecast after strong trading over the Easter holidays, it said yesterday. The group, controlled by Newcastle United soccer club boss Mike Ashley, said sales rose 2.9 per cent to £214m in the nine weeks ended 28 March, with gross profits [...]
Nestle predicts strong year after its first quarter results impress April 22, 2010 NESTLE beat analysts’ forecasts with a 6.5 per cent jump in underlying first-quarter sales yesterday and said it was confident about the rest of the year. The world’s biggest food group, which makes Nescafé coffee, and KitKat chocolate, saw growth from all its regions and categories in the first three months of 2010. The Swiss [...]
WH Smith ups its dividend as profits rise April 22, 2010 WH Smith raised its dividend yesterday after a jump in first-half profits. The newspaper, books and stationery retailer reported a profit of £70m for the six months to 28 February, up four per cent. It hiked its dividend by 13 per cent to 6.1p. WH Smith’s first-half sales fell two per cent to £716m, while [...]
BACON TOP OF THE CROP OF RICH LIST HEDGIES April 22, 2010 IT’S been rich pickings indeed for the hedge fund community this year, if leaked information from the Sunday Times Rich List’s rundown of the wealthiest hedgies in town is anything to go by. Apart from two individuals whose wealth has stayed the same over the past year (Nat Rothschild at Atticus and Steven Heinz at [...]
Rank boosted by casinos and web April 22, 2010 BINGO hall and casino operator Rank Group said yesterday strong sales at its Grosvenor Casinos and Rank Interactive units underpinned an “encouraging” start to 2010, and it was confident on its full-year prospects. Rank added that its Mecca Bingo chain had recovered from the effects of cold weather in January, and Top Rank Espana had [...]
Canary Wharf Starbucks shops are UK’s busiest April 22, 2010 STARBUCKS said its City and Canary Wharf branches were its busiest in the UK. They helped to push the coffee chain’s UK revenues up by more than five per cent. Starbucks’ global net income jumped to $217.3m (£141.3m), or 28 cents per share from the year-ago quarter’s profit of $25m, or three cents a share. [...]
