DAIRY CREST GETS A BOOST DESPITE MARKET PRESSURES July 19, 2011 Dairy Crest yesterday reported an increase in sales of its five main brands in what it called “an increasingly tough trading environment”. Total sales of Dairy Crest’s five main brands, Cathedral City, Country Life butter, Clover and St Hubert Omega 3 spreads, and yoghurt drink Frijj, rose by five per cent year-on-year in the first [...]
HERMES LIFTS FORECAST AS SALES RISE July 19, 2011 LUXURY group Hermes now expects revenue growth of 12 to 14 per cent in 2011, up from a previous range of eight to 10 per cent, after what it described as a “better-than-expected performance” in the second quarter. Sales in the three months to 30 June jumped 22 per cent to €668.4m (£587m), Hermes said.
BAA mulls a fresh lawsuit in sell-off spat July 19, 2011 BAA said it is considering judicial review after the Competition Commission ruled yesterday that the airport operator must sell Stansted and Glasgow or Edinburgh airport. In its final report, the commission said that the sales process for London’s third-largest airport Stansted would start in three months’ time, and would be followed by the sale of [...]
UK’s Johnson Matthey sees higher profits July 19, 2011 JOHNSON Matthey, the world’s largest supplier of catalytic converters, said its first-half performance should be significantly ahead, after a 19 per cent rise in first-quarter profit. The British chemicals company said underlying profit before tax rose to £98m in the three months to the end of June, on the back of a 12 per cent [...]
Where to find the City’s brands of tomorrow July 19, 2011 BrandIndex measures perceptions of the brands that we know of and buy today, but this week I wanted to think about the potential brands of tomorrow. On Monday I had the great pleasure of meeting young entrepreneurs at the launch of StartUp Summer, a scheme to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among students organised by YouGov [...]
PETRA DIAMONDS SALES SPARKLE July 19, 2011 Africa-focused miner Petra Diamonds yesterday said its full-year revenue rose 24 per cent, as higher rough diamond prices and demand in Asia offset falling production. Revenues were $221m (£137m) in the year to the end of June and would have jumped 55 per cent including the $35m sale of the Cullinan Heritage diamond (pictured). The [...]
Electrolux hit as consumers feel the pinch July 19, 2011 HOME appliances giant Electrolux yesterday warned that weak demand in the US and Europe combined with rising raw materials costs would hurt second-half earnings, underscoring harsh conditions for consumer companies. Electrolux, the world’s second largest maker of appliances like fridges and cookers, posted worse than expected second-quarter results alongside its gloomy forecast and saw its [...]
Cisco cuts 15pc of its workforce July 19, 2011 CISCO Systems plans to cut 15 per cent of its staff and sell a set-top box factory as part of a plan to cut annual expenses by $1bn (£620m) as the network equipment maker tries to revive its fortunes. The company said that it will cut 11,500 jobs, compared with the several thousand that analysts [...]
Novartis beats sales forecasts July 19, 2011 SWISS drugmaker Novartis expects to withstand competition from cheaper copies of its drugs after it posted forecast-beating second-quarter sales helped by its newest products. Sales rose 27 per cent, or 19 per cent in constant currencies, to $14.9bn (£9.24bn), ahead of a poll average of $14.7bn, while sales volume at the key pharma unit rose [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 19, 2011 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Freshfields has appointed corporate partner Julian Long as head of its London corporate practice for a three-year term. Long, who succeeds Mark Rawlinson, newly elected as London managing partner, is an M&A specialist who also runs the law firm’s consumer and healthcare sector group. He recently advised on Petrochina’s venture with Ineos [...]
