Selfridges to buck the high street gloom November 6, 2011 SELFRIDGES, the British chain of high-end department stores, will this week report a surge in profits thanks to the resilience of the luxury goods market. The company, which is owned by Canadian billionaire Galen Weston, is expected to report a 19 per cent jump in profits later this week, after sales at is stories in [...]
Shops have a tough start to fourth quarter November 6, 2011 THE RETAIL sector began the final quarter of the year with a demoralising 3.1 per cent drop in annualised like-for-like sales, according to accountancy group BDO. An identical 3.1 per cent fall was also recorded in like-for-like fashion sales, compared to the same time last year, as shoppers delayed winter purchases partly due to the [...]
Hedge funds betting on further woe for retailers November 6, 2011 HEDGE funds are betting on further falls in the share prices of some of Britain’s best-known retailers, according to new data from Data Explorers. Hedge funds and other investors borrowed large amounts of retailers’ shares in October, allowing them to sell the stock when the price declines and pocket the difference. From electricals seller Dixons [...]
Julius Baer lifts bid for Sarasin November 6, 2011 Swiss private bank Julius Baer has raised its bid for unlisted Rabobank’s stake in Swiss bank Sarasin and is now making an all cash offer, the SonntagsZeitung reported yesterday. Baer had initially offered to pay in cash and Julius Baer shares for the stake in Sarasin, a bank catering for rich clients. Swiss cooperative lender [...]
Luminar has queue to buy clubs November 6, 2011 Collapsed nightclub operator Luminar has received a dozen expressions of interest for parts of the group. Oakley Capital, Sun European Partners, R Capital, Hugh Osmond and Luminar founder Stephen Thomas are said to be among those considering an offer. Last week the firm closed 11 venues, with the loss of around 300 jobs. The remaining [...]
Leahy outfit considers bid for Greencore November 6, 2011 THE mystery investor considering a bid for Irish food company Greencore is understood to be private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), the new employer of former Tesco chief executive Sir Terry Leahy. Greencore confirmed on 25 October that an unidentified party had made an approach that could lead to an offer. The company, [...]
Police probe fireworks role in M5 carnage November 6, 2011 POLICE were last night investigating whether smoke from a local firework display could have caused the crash on the M5 motorway on Friday night that left seven people dead and injured more than 50. Several eyewitnesses have reported seeing fog or black smoke on the stretch of road in Somerset where the accident happened, and [...]
Crown Estate unveils its £300m redevelopment November 6, 2011 The Crown Estate today unveiled its £300m redevelopment of Regent Palace Hotel, just behind Piccadilly Circus in London’s West End, into luxury offices and shops. The Queen’s property company said it has signed its first office tenant, the fund manager Generation, co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, to its 200,000 square feet of [...]
Olympic Media Buzz LONDON 2012 PARTNERS November 6, 2011 IN ASSOCIATION with Repskan.com, the media monitoring and analytics platform, City A.M. is measuring the relative Olympic media buzz around the partners for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, week by week. The leaderboard, right, reflects their ranking over the past week, in this case from Wednesday 26 October to Wednesday 2 November. Continued [...]
Buffett says Berkshire hit by derivatives November 6, 2011 WARREN Buffett’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway reported a smaller third-quarter profit over the weekend, after losing more than $2bn (£1.24bn) on derivatives related to stock market performance. That was nearly three times what Berkshire lost on the same instruments a year ago. Buffett has criticised derivatives in general, but said these particular contracts were safe and [...]
