Carpetright piles on profit and closes down its Poland stores December 15, 2009 The UK’s biggest carpet retailer, Carpetright, laid out better than expected first-half results yesterday, but closed down its loss making operations in Poland. With more people moving house, underlying profits rose by 58 per cent to £13.9m, with revenues increasing by nine per cent to £258m. While opening 590 new stores across Britain and Ireland, [...]
NEWS | IN BRIEF December 15, 2009 Whitbread gets coffee uplift Leisure group Whitbread said its coffee shop operator Costa Coffee is to expand in eastern Europe by buying central European chain Coffeeheaven for £36m. Whitbread said Costa has agreed to pay 24p a share in cash for Coffeeheaven, which the UK firm plans to use as a springboard for growth in [...]
Lovells hits legal top 10 with US deal December 15, 2009 Partners at City law firm Lovells and Washington-based Hogan & Hartson voted through merger plans to create the world’s ninth-largest legal practice by sales yesterday. The new firm, to be known as Hogan Lovells, will have sales of £1.1bn and 2,500 lawyers in 40 offices around the world. The enlarged firm comes into being on [...]
Ikos split unsettles investors December 15, 2009 ELENA Ambrosiadou, one of the best-paid and most successful female hedge fund managers in the world, will be going solo after husband Martin Coward announced a shock split from his position at Ikos yesterday. Coward, the chairman, chief financial officer and a former Goldman Sachs employee, formed the other half of the power couple who [...]
VT seeks answers on why Mouchel rejected its bid December 15, 2009 MOUCHEL, the government and highways services company, saw its shares gain yet again yesterday, as larger rival VT Group put out a statement asking why the group had rejected its two takeover bids. The shipbuilder-turned-defence group yesterday confirmed it had bid for Mouchel twice, with the second offer at 260p a share on 2 December. [...]
Moulton raises £143m for investment vehicle to target distressed companies December 15, 2009 PRIVATE equity industry veteran Jon Moulton has raised £142.4m to invest in struggling businesses through his new investment vehicle. Moulton, perhaps best known for his involvement in an unsuccessful bid to buy collapsed Midlands car maker MG Rover, will advise Better Capital, which will list on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on tomorrow. The group’s [...]
Rank demands £26m in overdue VAT payments from the tax authorities December 15, 2009 GAMING and bingo group Rank demanded £25.9m in overdue VAT payments from Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) yesterday after a tribunal ruled again in its favour. The tribunal concluded that the group had been overcharged over their gaming machines between 2003 and 2005. Rank has now called for HMRC to repay the money within [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS December 15, 2009 F&C ASSET MANAGEMENT Singer Capital Markets trimmed estimates on F&C yesterday following a pre-close briefing with the company, to reflect slightly higher variable staff costs. But the broker said the share price remains at a discount within the sector after a year of strong fund performance. It kept its “buy” rating with a target price [...]
Shareholders back National Express issue December 15, 2009 TRAIN and bus operator National Express has secured 90.47 per cent acceptances for its £360m rights issue – with the backing of its biggest shareholder the Cosmen family. The cash call was made in a bid to tackle the company’s £1.1bn debt. Global co-ordinators Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley will now try [...]
Supermarkets score for both value and reputation December 15, 2009 In the highly-competitive world of supermarkets, there are two basic types of brand: those which are “cheap and cheerful”, which focus on low cost while maintaining reasonable quality; and those which cost more but make a feature of the higher quality products. These show up very clearly in the respective average BrandIndex scores from the [...]
