Magners maker goes stateside as rain waters down UK sales October 23, 2012 IRISH cider maker C&C said yesterday it would buy US firm Vermont Hard Cider for $305m (£191m) as part of a bid to tap into a fast-growing market and offset weakness in its core UK business, where sales of its flagship Magners brand slumped during a wet summer. Sales of Magners in the US leapt [...]
WPP expands growth in China October 23, 2012 ■ Advertising giant WPP has continued its expansion into China with the purchase of communications agency ArtM. The Beijing firm, which has offices in three other major Chinese cities, will be absorbed by WPP subsidiary Grey. The acquisition is the latest Chinese buy from WPP, which counts the country as its third-largest market. ArtM’s price [...]
London Capital sees revenue drop October 23, 2012 ■ Spread betting firm London Capital Group yesterday announced a third quarter adjusted loss after revenues were hit by low trading volumes. The Aim-listed company, which also offers financial services, said trading volumes had been “suppressed” over the quarter. It means the group’s adjusted profit before tax until 30 September is £0.6m. The board said [...]
Avacta grows but losses widen October 23, 2012 ■ Healthcare technology firm Avacta yesterday posted a 28 per cent rise in sales for the year to August, which it put down to improved performance in its animal healthcare division. However, the company’s losses widened to £1.6m from £1.1m last year. Avacta’s shares rose 4.4 per cent in trading yesterday. “Despite a challenging backdrop [...]
Barclays gets social savvy – on and offline October 23, 2012 AT this week’s Young One World summit in Pittsburgh, Barclays’ new chief executive Antony Jenkins revealed himself to be a Twitter devotee. Jenkins told delegates: “I have a screen in my office that tracks tweets about Barclays. The day after the Libor scandal broke, we had 10,000 tweets and my computer screen was scrolling so [...]
No shortage of literature for banking bookworms this month October 23, 2012 RECENT City A.M. award winner and property giant Westfield welcomed the Prime Minister’s wife to their Shepherd’s Bush store yesterday. Samantha Cameron, ambassador of Save the Children, gave a special reading of The Snail and the Whale at Foyles Bookstore to a group of children from Larmenier & Sacred Heart primary school. But for grown-up [...]
Arden Partners shrinks board with shake-up October 23, 2012 ARDEN Partners, the small and mid cap market broker, yesterday reshuffled its board by appointing a new chief executive and saying goodbye to non-executive chairman Lord Howard Flight, who has decided to leave the firm. The board of the Alternative Investment Market-listed broker will be reduced in size by two seats. Lord Flight will leave [...]
Pirc slams recruiter Hays for its sums on director pay packets October 23, 2012 RECRUITMENT firm Hays has come under fire for the way it pays directors, with influential shareholder body Pirc telling investors to vote down the firm’s remuneration report next month. Hays, which has been hit by the Europe-wide hiring slowdown this year, does not use stringent enough targets for its bosses when awarding bonuses, Pirc argued [...]
Business lending continues to slump as firms reduce debts October 23, 2012 BUSINESS borrowing slid further in September, data revealed yesterday, but mortgage lending increased slightly. Net business lending contracted £1bn between September and August, the British Bankers’ Association said, after falling £1.7bn on average in the previous six months. This continued fall in the stock of loans came from the demand side, the industry body said, with [...]
Global consumption growth set to return in coming year October 23, 2012 THE GLOBAL consumption slowdown may have come to an end in October, data hinted today, after growth bounced back from August and September lows. Global consumption grew 1.7 per cent in the year to October, according to PwC’s global consumption index, up from 1.5 per cent in September. Consumption momentum climbed to one per cent [...]
