Profits surge at pizza chain July 22, 2008 Pizza chain Domino’s yesterday reported a 33 per cent rise in first-half profits, as cash-strapped customers save money by getting a takeaway instead of dining in a restaurant. The country’s largest pizza delivery firm said that pre-tax profit for the first half of the year was £10.9m, compared to £8.2m last year while sales at [...]
HBOS City advisers rights issue storm July 22, 2008 Investment bankers at Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort will have breathed a collective sign of relief yesterday when they managed to find buyers for 29 per cent of the HBOS rights issue rump. The whole experience has been an unnerving one for the bank and its advisers, left holding billions of pounds worth of HBOS [...]
Bank of America adds cheer to bank stocks July 22, 2008 Shares in Bank of America, the largest retail bank in the US, surged after the mortgage lender revealed better-than expected second quarter results, despite a 41 per cent drop in profits and a rise in bad loans. The stock climbed 6 per cent higher after the bank topped earnings forecasts, boosting confidence amongst investors that [...]
Network Rail rejects MPs ‘reward for failure’ jibes July 22, 2008 Network Rail and the government hit back at an MPs’ report yesterday that identified “a catalogue of failings” on Britain’s rail system. The Commons Transport Committee said that despite bonuses of over £200,000 given to three Network Rail directors, passengers were “inconvenienced and humiliated” by three major engineering overruns at the New Year. But Network [...]
HBOS shares slump after issue flops July 22, 2008 Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort stuck with 62.1 per cent of new equity HBOS shares closed down 6.2 per cent at 264.50p yesterday after the markets digested the implications of one of the most disastrous rights issue in the history of the City of London. With just 8.29 per cent of shareholders taking up the [...]
London bucks retailer gloom July 21, 2008 Central London retailers are defying the economic gloom, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium. Retail sales in June were 8.7 per cent higher than a year ago, although the rate of growth is weaker than in 2007 when an increase of 11 per cent was reported. Footfall was also higher than in June [...]
More firms on brink of bankruptcy July 21, 2008 The number of companies in Britain that are facing bankruptcy rose 685 per cent in the last year, new figures have revealed. Some 4,258 firms faced “critical problems” – defined as being embroiled in some kind of insolvency related legal action – in the second quarter of 2008, compared with just 542 in the same [...]
Schaeffler bid divides Conti board July 21, 2008 German ball bearings maker Schaeffler yesterday said it was still seeking friendly talks with tyre maker Continental, for which it has launched an unsolicited £9bn takeover bid. But insiders say the Conti board are split over whether or not to engage with the rival firm. Schaeffler reiterated its aim for a stake of 36 per [...]
WTO talks could ease trade crisis July 21, 2008 World Bank president Robert Zoellick yesterday urged trade ministers to push for a breakthrough in this week’s World Trade Organization talks, saying it was “now or never” to reach a deal. Zoellick said progress on agricultural issues in the meeting opening in Geneva today would bolster confidence in a world economy strained by soaring food [...]
BP fight over divi cut July 21, 2008 British oil giant BP has blocked a $1.8bn (£900m) dividend payment due to four Russian billionaire shareholders of its strife-torn joint venture TNK-BP. But while the move was seen in London yesterday as proof that the UK giant was fighting back, the oligarchs claimed that there was no disagreement. They too had voted not to [...]
