BLOOD BROTHERS: EVANS SALUTES QUINS SPIRIT May 22, 2011 HARLEQUINS fly-half Nick Evans believes Friday’s Amlin Challenge Cup final win over Stade Francais has finally put the controversy of the Bloodgate scandal to bed. Evans, who kicked the winning conversion to seal a 19-18 victory, said: “Everyone hated us but now we have a Conor O’Shea who has instilled new values.”
Halfords sales rise after business relaunch May 20, 2011 Car parts retailer Halfords has seen sales and bookings rise following the rebrand and relaunch of its own-branded car maintenance business in February. Weekly online bookings have jumped 93 per cent year-on-year in the ten weeks to 9 May 2011, since Halfords refurbished all of their car maintenance centres and constructed a new Halfords Autocentres [...]
M&B shares fall after profit drop May 20, 2011 Pub and restaurant giant Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) shares fell more than 4.9 per cent as they reported a drop in half-year profits. Pre-tax profit for the 28 weeks to 9 April was at £43m, compared with £72m in 2010. Revenue was down by almost nine per cent to £946m, compared with last year. The [...]
Gap cuts annual profits forecast May 20, 2011 Fashion retailer Gap cut its annual profit forecast by 23 per cent as costs to make clothes soar. The figure dropped to $233m (£143.5m), compared with $302m in the first quarter of 2010. Costs of goods have risen even higher than initially estimated, Gap said. “We are disappointed in our quarterly performance, however remain invigorated [...]
Mortage lending down 14 per cent in April May 20, 2011 Mortgage lending fell 14 per cent in April compared with the previous month, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The £9.8bn lent was five per cent down on the same month last year. Seasonal factors, including an extra bank holiday, were blamed for the decline. The CML said Easter falling in April had [...]
Tepco chief quits after £9bn loss on quake crisis May 20, 2011 Tokyo Electric Power Co reported a net loss of $15bn (£9bn) to account for the disaster at its Fukushima nuclear power plant and it warned its future was uncertain. The company said President Masataka Shimizu, 66, will step down to take responsibility for the disaster and radiation leaks at the plant, making way for an [...]
Scottish & Southern beats profit forecast May 20, 2011 Scottish & Southern Energy reported an annual profit above analysts’ expectations helped by favourable pricing of electricity units and new cost controls. SSE said changes in the price of electricity units following the introduction of new price controls, combined with cost controls in its networks businesses, bolstered full-year profit at the company, prompting a seven [...]
HMV in £53m deal to sell Waterstone’s May 20, 2011 HMV has agreed a deal to offload its Waterstone’s book chain to a fund headed by Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut for £53m. Mamut already owns six per cent of HMV which has been struggling as downloads have hit its CD business, while sales at online retailers like Amazon have also taken off. The sale to [...]
Mitsui to pay BP £678m oil spill claim May 20, 2011 MOEX, a unit of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co, and partner in BP’s doomed Macondo well has agreed to pay the UK oil major $1.1bn (£678m) towards the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. MOEX had a 10 per cent stake in the well and was liable for a commensurate portion of [...]
Next IMF boss shouldn’t be European May 20, 2011 FAR too much time and energy is being wasted on trying to work out who the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) new boss will be. The truth is that it is unlikely to matter that much: the individuals entrusted with the running of large transnational bureaucracies almost invariably find it impossible to break away from the [...]
