Banknote printer recovering – even without drachma May 29, 2012 IT has become la question du jour: how are you preparing for a Greek exit, or “Grexit” as the latest parlance would have it? Most executives will tell you they are looking at cash, treasury and currency issues – but some are having to be more inventive than others. Dixons, for example, is stockpiling security [...]
Brewin boss confident despite euro turmoil as profits increase May 29, 2012 THE HEAD of Brewin Dolphin said the 250-year-old investment manager could confidently ride out the Eurozone crisis despite rising anxiety over Greece. Executive chairman Jamie Matheson said Britain is “not immune” to the problems surrounding the single currency but struck an upbeat tone as Brewin posted a 3.3 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to [...]
US growth helps Wolseley to counter weak sales in Europe May 29, 2012 WOLSELEY, the world’s biggest building supplies company, posted a rise in third quarter profits yesterday, but weaker-than-expected third-quarter sales in Europe sent shares down two per cent. The owner of the Plumb Centre and Ferguson chains in Britain and the United States said trading profits rose 10.3 per cent to £139m for the three months [...]
ANALYST VIEWS | WAS WOLSELEY’S THIRD QUARTER TRADING PERFORMANCE IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS? May 29, 2012 CAROLINE DE LA SOUJEOLE SEYMOUR PIERCE As expected Wolseley’s third quarter trading performance was a mixed bag with continued high growth rates in North America and Europe still lagging: UK is still declining but the trends are improving…we leave our 2012 numbers unchanged, expecting adjusted EBIT of £647m and adjusted profit before tax of £587.3m. [...]
Pret A Manger owner sells Hoxton Hotel for £70m May 29, 2012 The Hoxton, the trendy east London hotel founded six years ago by the Pret a Manger co-founder Sinclair Beecham, has been sold in a deal worth around £70m. The hotel’s private equity backer Bridge Ventures confirmed the sale yesterday to boutique investment firm Ennismore Capital, which aims to make the Hoxton concept a chain in [...]
96 jobs to go as Dewey put into administration May 29, 2012 ALMOST 100 London employees of defunct law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf were made redundant yesterday, after its UK and Paris operations were put into administration. The City firm’s US parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late on Monday night, marking the end to weeks of turmoil at the 103-year-old law firm. The UK operation, [...]
MEET THE ADMINISTRATORS: BDO May 29, 2012 MARK SHAW HEAD OF BUSINESS RESTRUCTURING AND INSOLVENCY SHAY BANNON PARTNER The troubled law firm’s London and Paris offices are being taken care of by Shay Bannon and Mark Shaw, business restructuring partners at BDO, as joint administrators until a core team assists in the winding-down of the business. Shaw is a London-based partner at [...]
US morale falls but house prices gain May 29, 2012 US HOME prices edged higher for the second month in a row in March as the housing recovery picked up traction, while gains in some of the hardest hit areas suggested the improvement was becoming more broad-based. But consumer confidence cooled in May to its lowest level in four months, separate data showed yesterday, as [...]
Ashurst sees revenues increase May 29, 2012 Law firm Ashurst posted a six per cent rise in turnover for its 2011-12 financial year yesterday, with revenues rising to £322m from £303m in the previous 12 months. The figures do not include revenue derived from Ashurst’s tie-up with Australian firm Blake Dawson, which was agreed in September last year. Though Blakes is now [...]
Electra’s net asset value rises May 29, 2012 Electra private equity yesterday posted a jump in half-year net asset value (NAV). The firm said diluted NAV per share rose 6.1 per cent to 2,360p in the period to 31 March and said it had an investment capacity of £449m. It believes a broader funding shortfall will create more chances to invest in the [...]
