Halfords buys car company February 18, 2010 CAR and bike accessories retailer Halfords said yesterday it was expanding into the car servicing market after buying Nationwide Autocentres for £73.2m. The company said the “Halfords Autocentre” business would be a major source of growth for the firm. In addition to Nationwide’s existing 224 sites, it is expected that Halfords will open 200 new [...]
ANALYST VIEWS:?WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR LADBROKES? February 18, 2010 KARL BURNS | SHORE CAPITAL Current trading in UK retail net revenue is down 5.8 per cent, reflecting a stronger gross win margin and lower free bets. We believe this is an encouraging figure, with the impact from poor weather conditions likely to have been significant. Lower gross profit tax and costs, led to January’s [...]
Ladbrokes profits hit by downturn February 18, 2010 LADBROKES went on a losing streak in 2009 with the recession leading punters to place fewer and lower bets. Pre-tax profits slumped 28 per cent to £191.3m after a tough year in which it was forced to tap shareholders for £274.6m in October. The UK’s biggest bookmaker said its 2,000 UK betting shops suffered a [...]
Kingfisher says profits will survive the impact of the winter’s big freeze February 18, 2010 B&Q owner Kingfisher said it had defied the big freeze in posting better-than-expected results for January. The company said it had kept a lid on costs and profits would be “slightly ahead” of the £540m for the year to 30 January pencilled in by city analysts Like-for-like sales for the final quarter at B&Q had [...]
Walmart sees quarterly profits surge February 18, 2010 WALMART the world’s biggest retailer, yesterday reported a 22 per cent jump in profits for its fourth quarter, but left investors underwhelmed with its outlook for the current quarter. The world’s largest retailer made consolidated net income, or after-tax profits, of $4.6bn (£2.9bn) in the three months to 31 January on a 4.5 per cent [...]
Rusal’s float goes sour as shares plunge February 18, 2010 Shares in Rusal tumbled nearly seven per cent yesterday, meaning the world’s largest aluminium producer has shed more than a third of its initial public offering (IPO) price in a month. Ever-present uncertainties surrounding the group’s chief executive and major shareholder Oleg Deripaska which caused retail investors to be banned from the original float are [...]
IPO failures give private equity a bloody nose February 18, 2010 THE keenly anticipated flood of initial public offerings slated for early 2010 has failed to materialise as investors become increasingly wary of over-leveraged businesses coming to market. Travelport and New Look’s pulled flotations and Merlin Entertainment’s decision to abandon its plans have set alarm bells ringing despite a clutch of other potential IPOs, including Promethean, [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS February 18, 2010 ETX Capital The financial spread betting firm has appointed John Wilson, the outgoing chief executive of the London Stock Exchange’s dark pool trading facility Baikal, as its new executive chairman. Wilson leaves following the LSE acquisition of Turquoise, having spent two years at Baikal. Meanwhile, Andrew Edwards, formerly managing director and trading director at ETX, [...]
Qantas cuts back on first class seats February 18, 2010 QANTAS Airways, Australia’s national carrier, said yesterday it would axe first class seats on all but a handful of its routes after a sharp fall in demand for premium flights in the downturn. The news came as Qantas yesterday reported a 72 per cent plunge in first half net profit to just Au$58m (£33.4m), hit [...]
CITY SET FOR HERON’S ROOM WITH A VIEW February 18, 2010 BUSINESS hotshots out to impress in the City’s culture of superlatives, take note: plans are finally afoot to find a restaurateur to take on what will soon become the venue with some of the best views over the Square Mile. Heron Tower, the 46-storey Bishopsgate glass and stainless steel giant due for completion just over [...]
