Comet fuels Kesa revival December 16, 2009 KESA, the electricals retailer that owns Comet, returned to profit in the first half of its financial year, with stronger sales mirroring recent improved performances by rivals Currys and PC World. Kesa reported a £6m pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of October, a big turnaround from the £103.8m loss in the [...]
SFO launches a probe into Kaupthing over Edge account December 16, 2009 THE Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into the UK operations of Kaupthing, the Icelandic bank that imploded in October 2008. The SFO is particularly interested in the high yield Kaupthing Edge savings account, which was marketed by subsidiary Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander and attracted more than 30,000 UK customers. The SFO said: [...]
Unilever gets the City’s approval as it hires new finance chief December 16, 2009 CONSUMER products giant Unilever yesterday named Jean-Marc Huet as its new chief financial officer, following the resignation of James Lawrence last week. Huet is currently chief financial officer of Bristol-Myers Squibb and will make the switch to Unilever in the New Year. “We are delighted to have attracted a candidate of Jean-Marc’s talent and experience,” [...]
HELP FOR TECHIE VIRGINS December 16, 2009 SIR RICHARD BRANSON’s Virgin Group yesterday launched a company to help consumers with technical problems like PCs crashing, wireless networks not connecting and games consoles refusing to link up with other gear. www.virgindigitalhelp.co.uk will offer free online self-help guides such as “speed up” to make computers go faster.
The power plant boss who is busy trying to clean up her firm’s act December 16, 2009 T he best way to describe the chief executive of Drax power station Dorothy Thompson is to say that she is poised – a quality that will undoubtedly come in handy when it comes to navigating a path through energy markets beset with low demand and ever more onerous climate change targets. When one meets [...]
Laura Ashley price cutting boosts sales December 16, 2009 LAURA ASHLEY, the womenswear and home furnishings retailer famous for its floral prints, continues to defy the hardship on the high street, with sales rising nearly five per cent since August. With the latest UK sales data showing improved retail sales in London in November but sluggishness across the rest of the country, Laura Ashley [...]
FSA in derivatives clean up December 16, 2009 FINANCIAL authorities yesterday called for improved transparency on over-the-counter derivatives products as well as higher charges for non-centrally cleared trades. In a paper called “Reforming OTC Derivatives Markets”, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said the financial crisis had highlighted “shortcomings in the management of counterparty credit risk and the absence of sufficient [...]
Pali International halts trading after profits fall December 16, 2009 PALI Capital, the US-based broker and investment bank, effectively shut down its London operation yesterday by suspending trading and cutting staff to a skeleton crew. Pali International applied to the FSA to register a variation in permissions, which will see its regulated activity come to a halt. Around 30 of Pali’s London employees will go, [...]
CITY VIEWS: IF BANKS PHASE OUT CHEQUES BY 2018, WILL YOU MISS THEM? December 16, 2009 GILES BRAKE | MSI GLOBAL ALLIANCE “I think cheques are useful for payment with smaller companies and services, but I certainly won’t miss them much once they’re gone. I think everyone can accept that we’re in the digital age now where everything is being done electronically. Cheques simply don’t serve the purpose that they once [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 16, 2009 G4S Evolution Securities yesterday said that security firm G4S’s management team presented a reassuring sales message, keeping focused on their core driver of demand, moving towards outsourcing with stable margins. They kept a “neutral” rating but moved their target price up to 252p from 230p. TOMKINS Cazenove said with recent news indicating the car industry [...]
