Next increases profit forecast after sales rise October 31, 2012 NEXT yesterday said it enjoyed a pick-up in sales in the third quarter of the year after seeing a slowdown around the time of the Olympics. The fashion and homeware retailer, led by chief executive Lord Wolfson, said stronger sales in late September and early October made up for the “unusually quiet” start to August. [...]
Wolfson’s winter jumpers keep Next hot as M&S plays catch-up October 31, 2012 MY mum used to buy me a jumper from M&S for Christmas every year. Now she goes to Next.” My colleague’s admission may have raised a laugh yesterday, but it’s a telling sign of the changing times on the UK high street. Looking at Next’s upbeat statement – predicting a £15m increase in profit for [...]
Job losses at Manganese Bronze October 31, 2012 ■ Manganese Bronze’s administrator PwC has cut 156 jobs at the struggling maker of London’s black taxis. The majority of jobs were cut at a manufacturing site in Coventry, while other positions have gone at dealerships across the country. PwC is now trying to get to the bottom of a steering box fault that led [...]
Seismic firm in London listing October 31, 2012 ■ Newly-formed IG Seismic Services is the latest Russian company to seek a London float, after yesterday announcing its intention to list its global depository receipts on the main market. IGSS, which provides seismic services to Russian oil and gas companies, believes it is well-placed to capitalise on strong growth in high-technology seismic services. The [...]
DfT kept rail bids from civil servants October 31, 2012 ■ Transport officials were kept in the dark over the details of bids for the West Coast Main Line rail franchise, Department for Transport permanent secretary Philip Rutnam said yesterday. Rutnam told MPs that procurement rules meant he was not allowed to access key parts of the bids until the “latter part of July”. Transport [...]
Standard Life sales fall amid pension reform October 31, 2012 INSURANCE giant Standard Life yesterday announced that sales are down seven per cent this year to £14.4bn, as companies decline to switch their pension scheme provider ahead of forthcoming regulatory changes. New business from corporate pension schemes dropped by a third to £2.6bn, as firms wait to see how the incoming auto-enrolment scheme will pan [...]
What do you make of standard life’s results? October 31, 2012 GARY GREENWOOD | SHORE CAPITAL Although the short-term outlook is uncertain and has scope to drive some associated share price weakness, we would use this as an opportunity to buy into the shares as we believe substantial gains remain available to investors who are willing to build holdings for the long-term. BARRIE CORNES | PANMURE [...]
Stronger rules pledged as Plus given revamp October 31, 2012 MICHAEL Spencer’s broking giant ICAP yesterday announced a facelift for the junior stock market Plus, and promised that higher standards would be required from companies aiming to trade on it. Plus was yesterday renamed the ICAP Securities and Derivatives Exchange (ISDX), following ICAP’s purchase of the exchange in June. The acquisition process for the exchange [...]
BBVA profits plunge on huge mortgage loan writedowns October 31, 2012 SPANISH bank BBVA saw profits plummet in the first nine months of this year as it wrote off bad mortgage loans in an industry-wide push to clear bad debts and begin to recover, quarterly results showed yesterday. The bank made profits of €1.66bn (£1.33bn) in the first three quarters of 2012, down 47.6 per cent [...]
Eurozone sees inflation ease but jobless rise October 31, 2012 EUROZONE inflation eased as expected in October thanks to slower growth of energy prices, but unemployment rose to new record highs in September, data from the statistics office Eurostat showed yesterday. Eurostat estimated consumer inflation in the 17 countries sharing the euro was 2.5 per cent year-on-year, down from 2.6 per cent in September, though [...]
