Bramson’s Sherborne floats a new acquisition cash shell November 29, 2012 SHERBORNE Investors, the private equity group founded by Edward Bramson, launched its second cash shell yesterday, in a £207m listing on the Alternative Investment Market. The Sherborne Investors (Guernsey) B vehicle began trading on the junior market yesterday after a float run by Jefferies and HSBC. Bramson, who won control of F&C Asset Management in [...]
Dixons says it will gain from Comet collapse November 29, 2012 THE BOSS of Dixons Retail said he expected to grab a bigger slice of the market following rival Comet’s demise, as it returned to profit in the UK for the first time in five years. Sebastian James said Currys and PC World had not seen “much disruption” from the fire sale of Comet’s stock, as [...]
Dixons steals Comet’s place in the spotlight November 29, 2012 THERE are two kinds of people in this world: winners and losers. And if the contrast between rivals Dixons and Comet’s recent luck is anything to go by, the same looks to be true of companies. Luckily for Dixons, it looks like Comet’s demise has put the firm’s star firmly in the ascendant. Its shares [...]
Monitise in talks to raise up to £100m November 29, 2012 BRITISH mobile banking technology company Monitise confirmed yesterday it was in discussions with institutional and strategic investors to raise up to £100m. The company said the proceeds would be used to fund new mobile banking and commerce opportunities for financial institutions and payment companies. “Our business is seeing enormous demand for Mobile Money services,” said [...]
What are Kingfisher’s growth prospects? November 29, 2012 JAMES GRZINIC JEFFERIES Kingfisher confirmed deteriorating French and Polish demand, with B&Q’s UK sales also subdued. On a more positive note, a resumption in gross margin shows how self-help is an important driver to offset macro challenges. FREDDIE GEORGE SEYMOUR PIERCE The results were broadly in line with expectations…We continue to be concerned that the [...]
Kingfisher hit by French woes November 29, 2012 THE CHIEF executive of Kingfisher said uncertainty over the French government’s future tax policies had hit consumer confidence in its largest market, as it posted a six per cent drop in third quarter profit. The group, which runs B&Q and Screwfix in the UK as well as Castorama and Brico Depot in France, reported profits [...]
Asmussen warns that banking body won’t kick off until 2014 November 29, 2012 THE NEW European banking supervisory body, to be set up under the roof of the European Central Bank, will not be ready to operate fully before 2014, an ECB executive board member said yesterday. Making the ECB the supervisor for lenders chiefly in the 17 countries that use the euro would be the first of [...]
Eurozone retail sector suffers another sharp drop in sales November 29, 2012 RETAIL SALES continued to decline in the Eurozone in November, according to data out yesterday, making the month the 13th of shrinking volumes. Markit’s retail purchasing managers’ index rose slightly to 45.8, from 45.3 in October, but still indicated steady contraction, since it remained below the crucial no change level of 50. This came as [...]
IMF wants buy back of Greek debt settled November 29, 2012 THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund will not disburse Greece’s next bailout tranche until the country completes a voluntary buy back of its debt, it said yesterday. Eurogroup finance ministers and the IMF agreed earlier this week to conduct the buy back as part of measures to make Greece’s debt sustainable and release urgent loans that help [...]
Norovirus hits All Blacks for England clash November 29, 2012 ENGLAND’S hopes of ending the year on a high were boosted yesterday when it emerged tomorrow’s opponents New Zealand have been ravaged by the norovirus. The winter vomiting and diarrhoea bug has affected all but two of the All Blacks squad, disrupting their preparations for the Test at Twickenham. No8 Kieran Read said they had [...]
