National Grid earnings grow with cost cuts November 17, 2011 NATIONAL Grid yesterday reported a rise in first-half pre-tax profits and said it was on track to deliver strong full-year results. Britain’s biggest energy distributor said first-half profits rose two per cent to £953m, and was up 19 per cent excluding the impact of Hurricane Irene. That compared with estimates of £985.1m, according to a [...]
Pace issues new profit warning November 17, 2011 INVESTORS changed the channel on set top box-maker Pace yesterday after it admitted its business is still reeling from the Thai floods. Its shares tanked more than 24 per cent, after the firm said it now expects operating profits of just £89.5m – far lower than its already downgraded forecast of at least £95m. The [...]
ARM says Intel not ready for smartphone challenge November 17, 2011 CHIP designer ARM yesterday poured scorn on Intel’s chances of breaking into the smartphone chip market. ARM president Tudor Brown said he can’t take Intel’s hopes of launching rival chips seriously after so many unsuccessful attempts. He said: “There’s been so many false hopes and so many false marketing boasts, I can’t take it seriously. [...]
Tough Christmas looms despite retail sales lift November 17, 2011 AGGRESSIVE price cuts led to a surprise jump in retail sales last month, yet separate data suggests that high street stores are set for a tough Christmas. Sales volumes in October were up 0.9 per cent compared the same time last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed yesterday. The value of sales, boosted [...]
TED BAKER BUCKS FASHION GLOOM November 17, 2011 BRITISH fashion brand Ted Baker said yesterday it had seen strong third-quarter retail sales growth, as group revenues rose 7.8 per cent in the 13 weeks to 12 November. Retail sales increased 12.3 per cent but were offset by a fall in wholesale sales, which were down 4.7 per cent on the same quarter last [...]
Mothercare battles with poor UK sales November 17, 2011 MOTHERCARE chairman Alan Parker marked his first 100 days in office by announcing an overhaul of the baby products retailer after it revealed an £81.4m half-year loss. Shares in the FTSE 250 firm plummeted by 17.87 per cent yesterday to 127.3p after the group posted an underlying pre-tax loss, before exceptional costs, of £4.4m for [...]
Stock in French Connection falls November 17, 2011 SHARES in fashion retailer French Connection plummeted yesterday after it issued an unplanned profit warning saying that weak sales meant it was unlikely to reach profit forecasts. Broker Seymour Pierce downgraded its rating on French Connection to hold from buy and placed its target rating under review. Seymour Pierce says it is downgrading 2012 pre-tax [...]
Revenue dips at Sears and Gap November 17, 2011 SEARS Holdings quarterly loss has almost doubled as weak demand for gadgets hit the retailer. Revenue fell 1.2 per cent to $9.57bn (£6.05bn) in quarter three, below the analysts’ average estimate of $9.60bn. And Gap said its revenues fell by two per cent to $3.59bn in the third quarter, while profits slumped 36 per cent [...]
IRELAND AUCTIONS BUST TYCOON’S ART TO PAY OFF SUB-PRIME DEBTS November 17, 2011 DEREK Quinlan is not a name you will have read much about recently, after the troubled property tycoon decided to lie low on the shores of Lake Geneva while he contemplated his sizeable debts to Anglo Irish Bank. But he was back in the spotlight yesterday, when Quinlan’s $2.8m art collection came under the hammer [...]
Airlines lobby to axe levy on passengers November 17, 2011 FOUR of Britain’s biggest airlines put aside their differences yesterday to lobby the government to scrap its air passenger duty (APD), which they slammed as uncompetitive. Ryanair, EasyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have written to the chancellor arguing the tax on passengers, set to rise by twice the rate of inflation in 2012, puts [...]
