Halfords sales lift in sunshine July 29, 2009 CAR parts and bike retailer Halfords yesterday cheered investors as good weather and the government’s Cycle2Work fitness promotion boosted sales during the quarter. The group said total sales rose 1.3 per cent during the 13 weeks to 3 July, compared to the same period a year ago, as commuters rushed to buy bikes and camping [...]
Lupus Capital upbeat on outlook for construction July 29, 2009 LUPUS Capital, the construction investment group that ousted City entrepreneur Greg Hutchings earlier this month, said yesterday that tough trading conditions in the building products sector have started to ease. Lupus said yesterday its chief executive Keith Taylor had commenced a review of operations, and that the business is currently performing in line with expectations. [...]
AIC’s respected boss Godfrey quits as he searches for another big challenge July 29, 2009 DANIEL Godfrey, the popular director general of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), is stepping down after 11 years in the job. Godfrey, 48, is best remembered for steering the industry through its darkest hour when the split capital investment trust scandal broke and thousands lost their savings. He said he was leaving to seek [...]
CITY MOVES WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS July 29, 2009 Kreab Gavin AndersonTom Grimmer has joined communications firm Kreab Gavin Anderson as managing partner, China. Grimmer will be based in Beijing and will advise multinational companies as well as Chinese corporations with international growth plans. He has worked and studied in Asia since 1985, previously working as senior communications advisor, Asia Pacific, to Credit Suisse [...]
BEST OF THE BROKERS July 29, 2009 CadburyCharles Stanley upgraded Cadbury to “Accumulate” status. The launch of Fair Trade-certified Dairy Milk in the UK and Ireland could result in further share gains which would be a significant hurdle for competitors, it said. The broker also believes Cadbury can achieve its anticipated revenue growth and hit margin targets. LancashireExecution Research continues to support [...]
NOMURA WALL CANDY IMPRESSES ART-LOVING FORMER LEHMANITES July 29, 2009 AND SO it emerges that Lehman Brothers is preparing to sell 650 of its prized modern and contemporary artworks at auction in the States this winter, hoping to raise a total of $1m for its creditors. (Not that the piddling amount will contribute much to levelling its $250bn debt pile, but every little helps, as [...]
Good-looking but a trifle shallow July 28, 2009 THE FACTS: AUDI A5 SPORTBACK 3.2 LITRE FSI QUATTRO7-SPEED S TRONIC PRICE: £36,110 0-62MPH: 6.6secsTOP SPEED: 155mph CO2 G/KM: 379g/kmMPG Combined: 30.4/216g/km AUDI is celebrating a one hundred-year history of building cars, competing in motorsport and having its vehicles at every red carpet event. How is it celebrating? By building more cars. Whatever your needs [...]
PWC BOARD GET THE X-FACTOR TREATMENT IN SURPRISE CONTEST July 28, 2009 RECENT surveys have shown that employees’ sense of job security has improved in recent months, but it seems it is now so high that poking fun at the board is back in vogue. The PwC board were half way through a three-week UK tour last week – in which they met 850 partners – when [...]
Bullish Aussie dollar will be threatened by Chinese bubble July 28, 2009 THREE weeks ago, risk aversion was firmly back in the markets and commodity currencies were looking shaky. But equities and commodities have been surging across the board as investors rediscover their taste for risk. In such an environment, the Australian dollar ought to be doing well thanks to its economy’s dependence on exports of base [...]
US housing market improves but consumer confidence hit July 28, 2009 US HOME sales rose for the first time in almost three years in May but ongoing weakness in the jobs market hit July consumer confidence hard, data showed yesterday. The S&P/Case-Shiller composite-20 index rose 0.5 per cent month-on-month in May, which saw the annual decline moderate to 17.1 per cent. But these figures are not [...]
