Spring sales help H&M post jump in second quarter profits June 20, 2012 SWEDISH fashion retailer H&M yesterday posted a 23 per cent jump in second quarter profits, boosted by strong sales of its Spring collection, in spite of the tough retail environment. The company reported a net profit rise of 5.2bn krona (£474m) in the three months to 31 May, up from Skr4.3bn last year, beating consensus [...]
SJ Berwin gets revenue boost June 20, 2012 Law firm SJ Berwin said yesterday that revenues for its 2011-12 year had come in at £180.1m, a marginal increase on last year as it consolidated gains made in the previous 12 months. The average profit per partner at the firm also rose slightly to £635,000, having increased by 40 per cent in the 2010-11 [...]
US Healthcare Locums suit ends June 20, 2012 Shares in beleaguered nursing and social services group Healthcare Locums (HCL) climbed as much as 20 per cent yesterday after the company said that a US lawsuit against it had been dropped. HCL was being sued in the US by an outfit called Permian Master Fund. The firm’s shares pared early gains yesterday to close [...]
Xchanging hires Espirito Santo June 20, 2012 Business outsourcing group Xchanging said yesterday it had hired Espirito Santo Investment Bank as its joint corporate broker, joining Citibank Global Markets on its advisory team.
May trading picks up for pubs June 20, 2012 Trading for pubs and restaurants across the UK improved in May, boosted by warm weather at the end of the month, a study released yesterday showed. The Coffer Peach Business Tracker reported that comparable sales in May rose 2.6 per cent on the year, following a fall of two per cent in April.
Procter & Gamble cuts forecasts as slower growth in Europe hits June 20, 2012 SLOWER growth in China, Europe and the US prompted Procter & Gamble (P&G) to cut its growth forecasts yesterday. The world’s largest household product maker is expecting lower growth rates as it has cut costs by £6.35bn. Its chief executive, Bob McDonald, said at an investor conference in Paris yesterday, that the company would adjust [...]
Case against Farepak directors and parent company collapses June 20, 2012 A GOVERNMENT companies watchdog yesterday abandoned its bid to penalise directors of a Christmas saving scheme which collapsed in 2006 leaving tens out of thousands of savers out of pocket. The Insolvency Service, part of business secretary Vince Cable’s department for business, innovation and skills, said it was discontinuing High Court action against both former [...]
Rio Tinto bets $3.7bn on iron ore in Australia June 20, 2012 RIO Tinto said yesterday it will spend $3.7bn (£2.4bn) to increase iron ore output in Australia by a further 25 per cent to 353m tonnes a year by 2015, shrugging off forecasts of waning demand and a global supply glut. Rio Tinto, the world’s second-largest miner of iron ore after Brazil’s Vale, currently runs its [...]
Petrofac wins Mexico contract June 20, 2012 Mexico’s state oil monopoly Pemex yesterday awarded four contracts to drill mature oil fields in the second round of bidding to open up the country’s nationalised oil industry to more private investment. The Panuco area in Veracruz went to a joint bid from Schlumberger and drilling firm Petrofac. Petrofac said the contract, which runs for [...]
Costain gets fifth Crossrail mandate June 20, 2012 Engineer Costain, in a Skanska joint venture, yesterday secured its fifth Crossrail contract to do £40m worth of work surrounding the project. The work will take until August 2018 to complete. “This further contributes to the strength of our order book, of which 90 per cent is repeat business,” said Costain chief executive Andrew Wyllie.
