Next surprises with warning of autumn lull September 13, 2012 SHARES in Next tumbled 7.2 per cent yesterday after the fashion chain braced investors for a slow autumn. The group announced a better-than-expected 10.2 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £251.3m for the six months to July. But Next spooked the markets by admitted that sales were “disappointing” in August and early September. Revenues [...]
Home Retail Group boosted by sales growth at Argos September 13, 2012 HOME Retail Group yesterday reported a return to quarterly growth at its flagship Argos chain, with sales up 1.4 per cent at £867m. Online purchases paid a key role in this growth, as they rose by 16 per cent, representing 42 per cent of total Argos sales. But the wet summer weather hit the group’s [...]
Burberry is open September 13, 2012 HIGH end fashion company Burberry yesterday opened its new flagship London store at 121 Regent Street. The shop is Burberry’s biggest in the world.
Essar wins delay on tax bill September 13, 2012 ■ Essar Energy’s shares leapt 6.1 per cent yesterday after it got longer than expected to pay a tax bill for its oil subsidiary in India. Essar Oil will now pay back $939m (£583m) over two years from January, after India’s supreme court overturned a demand for payment within six months. Essar has also won [...]
Westfield breaks records September 13, 2012 ■ Westfield shopping centre in Stratford yesterday announced a record breaking 47m people had walked through its doors since its opening last year. The centre, which celebrated its first birthday yesterday, also said it had 8.5m visitors over the course of the Olympics and Paralympics events this summer. The number of visitors attracted to the [...]
LGIM appoints Tomlinson September 13, 2012 ■ Fund manager Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM) has appointed former BlackRock man Lindsay Tomlinson onto its board. Tomlinson, a former chairman of the National Association of Pension Funds, has been appointed to the role of non-executive director. Tomlinson had been UK chief executive of Barclays Global Investors in the 90s.
Huawei says US has blocked its expansion plan September 13, 2012 CHINESE telecoms giant Huawei yesterday launched an outspoken attack on the US, saying its expansion in America had been blocked by “allegations against allegations”. The outburst from Huawei – the world’s biggest telecoms firm – threatens to raise tensions between the countries as a year-long investigation into Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese firm, by America’s [...]
Imagination Technology hit on mixed day for Apple suppliers September 13, 2012 IMAGINATION Technologies, the British firm that designs graphics chips for smartphones including Apple’s iPhone, saw its share price fall yesterday despite Wednesday night’s launch of the iPhone 5. The firm warned that average royalty rates had been hit by increasing sales of low-end smartphones, and warned of “uncertainty over timing [of new revenues], particularly given [...]
Premier Farnell outlook sunny on Raspberry Pi September 13, 2012 SHARES in Premier Farnell leapt yesterday when the electronics distributor beat expectations in the first half of the financial year despite its profits being cut in half. Premier Farnell, which sells thousands of components, said momentum around the release of the Raspberry Pi mini computer – which is made by a joint venture between the [...]
Revamp pays off for Centaur as digital growth spurs profit rise September 13, 2012 CENTAUR Media posted a surprise rise in annual profits yesterday, sending shares in the business information group up 12 per cent. The company, which publishes magazines including Marketing Week and The Lawyer, said that growth in digital revenues had propelled it to a 23 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £8m when one-off costs [...]
