Debt repayments ruffle feathers at Peacocks November 16, 2009 PEACOCKS, the budget clothing chain that made history with the first hedge fund-backed private buyout, sank further into the red last year. The firm, which also operates the Bonmarché and Fragrance Shop businesses, made a post-tax loss of £7.3m in the 12 months to March. It made a £5.2m loss in 2008. Peacocks took the [...]
Asos sales beat UK high street on overseas units November 16, 2009 ASOS, the recession-defying fashion online retailer, yesterday reported its half year pre-tax profit had jumped nine per cent, as strong overseas sales offset a softening UK market. The retailer said pre-tax profits in the six months to 30 September lifted to £4.4m from £4.1m the year before and reported a 47 per cent jump in [...]
Citi rejects Hands’s 1bn offer to refinance EMI November 16, 2009 GUY Hands’s private equity firm Terra Firma has been sent back to the drawing board after Citigroup rejected its proposed restructuring of music publisher EMI’s £2.6bn debt. Citi was not impressed by Hands’s offer of a £1bn capital injection into the business in return for the lender writing off the same amount of EMI’s debt, [...]
Persimmon builds sales November 16, 2009 Persimmon yesterday joined the chorus of property firms reporting trading conditions have improved in the third quarter and said home buyers were back in the market. The UK’s largest housebuilder by market value said it met its sales targets for the year and booked a further £500m of sales for 2010. Chief executive Mike Farley [...]
Invista seeks extra cash November 16, 2009 INVISTA European Real Estate Trust is aiming to raise £58.27m by selling shares to avoid a potential bank foreclosure as it sails perilously close to breaching a loan covenant. The property fund manager, which suffered a 23.4 per cent fall in the value of its assets between December 2007 and September, said its loan-to-value ratio [...]
Pork firm Cranswick brings home bacon November 16, 2009 PORK supplier Cranswick yesterday posted a higher first-half profit, boosted by rise in demand from grocery retailers and European discounters, and said it was confident of meeting expectations for the full year. The group said pre-tax profits jumped 22 per cent to £21.3m in the six months to 30 September, from £17.5m the year before. [...]
Cisco hikes its offer for Tandberg November 16, 2009 CISCO Systems raised its bid for Tandberg by 10 per cent to 19bn Norwegian crowns (£2.02bn), a move widely expected to win over shareholders of the video conferencing company. Cisco said yesterday its new bid of 170 crowns per share has the approval of holders of more than 40 per cent of Tandberg shares, including [...]
Dragon Oil investor to reject bid November 16, 2009 ANOTHER shareholder in explorer Dragon Oil yesterday said it would reject a takeover bid from controlling shareholder Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), that values Dragon at $3.9bn (£2.32bn). Paris-based Carmignac Gestion said the bid undervalued Dragon’s assets and prospects for growth, boosting the chances that ENOC will not succeed with its bid and may be [...]
Canon in bid for Oce November 16, 2009 CANON plans to buy Dutch copier and printer maker Oce for €730m (£650m), in a challenge to rivals Ricoh and Xerox in the hunt for growth. Canon, the copier and digital camera maker, and Oce said in a joint statement yesterday that Canon would offer €8.60 per share, for Oce’s shares, a premium of 70 [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 16, 2009 Newton Investment ManagementThe asset manager has promoted Simon Pryke to the post of head of its private investment management division. Pryke, who will also join the board, was previously investment leader for global research at Newton, a position he had held since 2003. He joined the firm in 1996 as a financials analyst. Roger Wilkinson, [...]
