Fashion chain Republic enters administration February 13, 2013 BRITAIN’S already fragile high street was dealt a fresh blow yesterday after fashion chain Republic collapsed into administration. Ernst & Young, the business advisory firm, has been appointed as administrator and 150 staff at its Leeds headquarters were immediately made redundant. The retailer, which sells youth fashion brands including Jack Jones and SoulCal, runs 121 [...]
John Lewis to sack managers February 13, 2013 DEPARTMENT store chain John Lewis could sack up to 325 managers from its stores as part of a staff shake-up designed to take into account the growing importance of online sales. The partnership, which has a reputation for looking after its staff, said it was consulting on the need to have individual departmental managers for [...]
Blockbuster to close 164 shops February 13, 2013 BLOCKBUSTER, the DVD and games rental chain, is to close a further 164 stores the firm’s administrators said yesterday, putting a further 800 staff at risk. Deloitte said the stores will shut over the coming week as part of a “phased closure” as it continues to find a buyer for the business and its remaining [...]
SocGen shakes up top brass after bad year February 13, 2013 FRENCH bank Société Générale stumbled to an unexpectedly large loss in the final quarter of 2012, financial figures showed yesterday, dragging down its full year results. The group revealed a management reshuffle as it streamlines its five main business lines into three in an drive to cut costs. SocGen lost €476m (£412m) in the final [...]
ING profits dip on tough year of restructuring February 13, 2013 DUTCH finance group ING yesterday announced it is cutting another 2,400 jobs as it unveiled a disappointing fourth-quarter profit figure. That brings current headcount cuts to 7,400 which the bank hopes will save €1bn (£865m) a year by 2015. The group made €1.434bn in the final three months of the year, up 21 per cent [...]
High street red in tooth and claw February 13, 2013 IT’S simply too tough out there, said the last official tweet from @republicfashion, announcing the company’s fall into administration. With inflation still stubbornly high and the news today of real wages back at 2003 levels, it is certainly a tough market. Republic is just the latest casualty in a post-Christmas cull of the UK high [...]
Cough and cold season boosts Reckitt figures February 13, 2013 A HEAVY flu and cold season in the US caused misery for many people but helped Strepsils-maker Reckitt Benckiser yesterday report a healthy lift in fourth quarter sales. Reckitt said sales in Europe and North America grew three per cent after “higher incidences of cold and flu” had boosted demand for products such as Mucinex [...]
Analyst Views | Has Reckitt Benckiser got off to a healthy start to 2013? February 13, 2013 GRAHAM JONES | PANMURE GORDON Reckitt’s full-year results came in ahead of expectations, with like-for-like growth of six per cent in the fourth quarter better than our 4.2 per cent forecast, with the outperformance entirely coming in ENA (Europe, North America) where growth was three per cent helped by a favourable cold season. DARREN SHIRLEY [...]
High-frequency trading firm Getco struggles February 13, 2013 HIGH-FREQUENCY trading business Getco yesterday revealed an 82 per cent drop in profits for the first nine months of 2012 thanks to poor market conditions. The figures – the first time that the company has made its financial performance public – were contained in a filing to the US securities and exchange made as part [...]
Aviation bosses set out their stalls for London expansion February 13, 2013 TRANSPORT bosses locked horns over how to provide London with more flights yesterday, as rival firms ramp up campaigns aimed at the coalition’s Davies Commission on the future of air travel. Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate said his firm will propose to Davies that the UK should allow a new runway each at Gatwick and [...]
