Tesco set to post profit fall but recovery in UK trading September 30, 2012 TESCO is set to post its first profit fall in almost 20 years this week, despite seeing a recovery in recent trading, as the supermarket fights to turn itself around after a shock profit warning in January. Analysts at Jefferies expect an improvement in second quarter trading, with like-for-like sales down 0.2 per cent compared [...]
Waste firm Biffa prepares for lenders’ judgement on future September 30, 2012 CREDITORS of bin collector Biffa, which employs around 6,000 bin workers in the UK, could seize control of the firm as the company struggles to pay back £1.1bn of loans to mezzanine and senior debt lenders. A consortium of about 50 senior lenders, led by HSBC, are understood to be looking at taking control of [...]
Culture secretary to broker 4G accord with mobile operators September 30, 2012 BRITAIN’S mobile networks will meet tomorrow to negotiate a government-brokered ceasefire over Ofcom’s auction of 4G spectrum, as culture secretary Maria Miller draws a line under litigation that has delayed a rollout of high speed mobile internet. The auction of 4G-approved bands of mobile airwaves is due to take place at the end of the [...]
Aviation report could alter the route of HS2 September 30, 2012 THE HIGH-SPEED rail link between London and the North could be relocated to pass through Heathrow, if the government allows the airport to expand after 2015. The Department for Transport (DfT) yesterday said that a bill will be introduced by the end of 2013 to get the ball rolling on building High Speed 2, as [...]
William Hill bid for Sportingbet is batted away September 30, 2012 ONLINE gambling firm Sportingbet has rejected an initial “lowball” offer from William Hill and GVC Holdings to snap up the business for £350m in an opening salvo for a bidding war over the company. William Hill and GVC, who are hoping to carve up Sportingbet’s regulated and unregulated operations if they take over the firm, [...]
Xstrata shareholders have time to reread the fine print September 30, 2012 FOLLOWERS of the Glencore-Xstrata merger proposal will be aware that the £44bn deal itself has faded into the background in recent months, replaced instead by a seemingly endless boardroom melodrama. Perhaps today’s announcement will allow attention to return to the compelling logic behind the tie-up: the world’s biggest commodities trader and the world’s biggest miner [...]
Primark moves into CD business September 30, 2012 Discount high street clothing store Primark is set to expand into music by experimenting with selling CDs in some of its 242 stores. Primark has reached a distribution deal with Universal, which recently had its purchase of EMI approved by the European Union, to sell music by artists signed to the label. The clothing chain, [...]
Informa buys £12m Primal Pictures September 30, 2012 3D human anatomy firm Primal Pictures has been sold to business media group Informa. The FTSE 100 firm bought the 90 per cent of Primal Pictures it does not own in a deal valuing the firm at £12m, the Sunday Telegraph reported yesterday. The sale will net the firm’s founders, who are still on the [...]
Renault mulls factory closures after poor sales September 30, 2012 FRENCH car maker Renault is considering the complete closure of factories because of the dire state of the European automobile market, the company’s chief operating officer warned yesterday. “We will see. We are currently talking to the unions and explaining to them how big the gaps are in our competitiveness,” Carlos Tavares told German trade [...]
Retail failures fell last quarter but fail to improve from 2011 September 30, 2012 THE NUMBER of UK retail failures showed no sign of abating in the first nine months of the year, as retailers continued to struggle against a tough economic backdrop and weak consumer spending. Figures from accountancy firm Deloitte show that although retail administrations fell in the third quarter – from 33 last year to just [...]
