De La Rue plans cuts as production fades May 24, 2011 BRITISH banknote printer De La Rue yesterday reported a 68 per cent drop in full-year profit due to paper production problems and said it was unable to predict the outcome of talks with the key customer still affected. De La Rue said production of banknote paper for one of its top customers — named by [...]
AssetCo faces new payment call from bank May 24, 2011 TROUBLED fire engine provider AssetCo is being pursued by one of its banks for repayment of a £1.3m overdraft facility, it said yesterday. Northern Bank has filed a creditor’s petition but AssetCo said it would not pay it while it was still renegotiating its banking arrangements. “This effectively seeks to improve the bank’s position, and [...]
VOICE OF THE CITY May 24, 2011 Our latest questions for our panel of business professionals are online now – apply to join at cityam.com/panel to give us your views on the proposed changes to the how the NHS is run: Do you have private healthcare? •I rely solely on NHS services •I have a private healthcare plan through work •I have [...]
Glencore rises 2pc in first day’s trading May 24, 2011 GLENCORE saw its share price close up 2.14 per cent in its first day of public trading on the London Stock Exchange yesterday in what the LSE confirmed is London’s largest ever float, with $10bn raised. The stock closed at 525p, failing to break above its original float price of 530p when conditional trading began [...]
A sorely needed IPO success story May 24, 2011 London’s float market badly needed a success story after a run of false starts and postponements this year. And Glencore’s moderate price movement during its first day’s trading seems to have supplied just that. Observers looking for a superstar rally, to fit hype from bankers last week that a five to 10 per cent rise [...]
M&S in store revamps as profit climbs May 24, 2011 MARKS and Spencer (M&S) yesterday unveiled a far reaching shake-up of its stores which will see branches in richer areas being stocked with more expensive lines. Chief executive Marc Bolland said the move – based on the spending power and demography of a local area – would see products better reflect the requirements of shoppers. [...]
Tesco market share rises as Asda sees dip May 24, 2011 TESCO’S market share rose for the first time since November last year, according to Kantar Worldpanel market share data. For the 12 weeks to 15 May Tesco’s market share rose to 30.7 per cent, from 30.6 per cent. The only other retailer in the top four to increase its share was fourth-placed Morrisons. Its share [...]
DO YOU SHOP AT MARKS AND SPENCER, AND DO YOU THINK THE STORES NEED A REVAMP? May 24, 2011 STEVE HART | SAGICOR “I don’t shop there because I find it is very old fashioned and hard to find what you are looking for. I think the stores need a revamp to attract a younger range of customers.” ELLIOT CAPLAIN | ASPEN INSURANCE “Yes I am a big fan, the food is great quality. [...]
Busy lives and tight belts drive HomeServe growth May 24, 2011 HOMESERVE founder Richard Harpin (pictured) yesterday said penny wise homeowners keen to avoid costly disasters such as boiler breakdowns helped it grow last year. Revenues at HomeServe, which repairs and protects systems such as plumbing and heating, increased by 27 per cent to £467.1m in the year to March 2011 compared with 2010, as it [...]
GLENCORE BOSS’S BRIEF ENCOUNTER AT CHELSEA May 24, 2011 IT WAS unseasonably cold at the preview of this week’s Chelsea Flower Show – so the Queen, mindful of her constitution, didn’t stop to admire every single show garden. However, she did manage to drop in on the Royal Bank of Canada’s New Wild Garden, designed by Nigel Dunnett of The Landscape Agency, where Lynn [...]
