Irn Bru maker AG Barr expects revenue growth as merger nears January 24, 2013 AG BARR, the maker of soft drinks Irn Bru, Tizer and Rubicon, yesterday said it expected to have outperformed the soft drinks market in its final quarter despite a summer of bad weather. The company, which is awaiting approval from the Office of Fair Trading on its merger with rival Britvic, anticipates total sales in [...]
St James’s Place up as investors gain confidence January 24, 2013 INVESTMENT manager St James’s Place yesterday reported a substantial hike in fourth-quarter sales, as wealthy customers regained confidence in the economy. “Investor sentiment is up,” chief executive David Bellamy told City A.M. “People are settling down and adjusting to the new normal – interest rates will stay low. They’ve got to get on with their lives.” [...]
EasyJet set to narrow losses as traffic rises January 24, 2013 BUDGET airline EasyJet’s push to attract more cost-conscious business travellers has helped the firm deliver a 9.2 per cent rise in quarterly revenues to £833m. Passenger numbers rose 6.2 per cent to 13.7m while revenues per seat jumped 3.9 per cent to an average of £53.87 in the final three months of 2012, the firm [...]
Analyst Views | What do you make of Easyjet’s update? January 24, 2013 PETER HYDE LIBERUM Revenue was strong; average revenue per seat at constant currency +8% – driven by tight industry capacity and the final quarter of the switch from a credit card charge to a higher admin fee. Lack of disruption would have helped profit before tax. RICHARD HUNTER HARGREAVES LANSDOWN The share price has been [...]
Christmas sales growth fizzles out in January January 24, 2013 RETAIL sales growth slowed this month, a leading business survey showed yesterday, although the figures were still slightly better than downbeat shops had feared. For the first two weeks of the year 41 per cent of retailers reported rising sales compared with the same period of last year, the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) study [...]
UK faces record vacancy rates in 2013 as administrations rise January 24, 2013 RECENT retail administrations could lead to a doubling of store closures on Britain’s high streets, according to a report from the Local Data Company (LDC). The latest monthly figures from the LDC show that the shop vacancy rate decreased for a third month in a row by 0.06 per cent to 14.25 per cent in [...]
Bank lending to firms plunges again despite government aid January 24, 2013 GOVERNMENT schemes to boost lending to companies have failed to turn around the firms’ deleveraging since the crisis, according to industry figures out yesterday. Net lending to non-financial firms plunged by £3.5bn in December, even faster than the £3.1bn fall in November and the biggest dip since June, the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) revealed. The [...]
EnQuest becomes first oil firm to launch retail bond on LSE January 24, 2013 EXPLORER EnQuest yesterday unveiled a nine-year retail bond paying 5.5 per cent, becoming the first oil company to launch the product. The bonds, which will mature on 15 February 2022, have a minimum initial subscription amount of £2,000. They will also be admitted to the London Stock Exchange’s Order Book for Retail Bonds. The bond [...]
Japan logs record trade deficit January 24, 2013 Japan logged a record annual trade deficit in 2012 as exports extended a slide in December, signalling that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to weaken the yen have been slow to gain traction. Despite polls suggesting Japanese manufacturing sentiment is improving, the 2012 trade gap of ¥6.93 trillion ($78.27bn) and a seventh consecutive monthly drop [...]
Italy’s Monti criticised over banks January 24, 2013 Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said yesterday he would be prepared to recall parliament to report on the troubled Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena but rejected suggestions that authorities had failed in their oversight functions. “It’s an issue which is really without any substance, but the government is nonetheless ready to address parliament on [...]
