Chinese Hony Capital eats up Pizza Express July 14, 2014 PIZZA Express became the latest UK brand to be snapped up by a Chinese buyer after it was announced that the restaurant chain would be sold to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital for around £900m. The sale of Pizza Express is part of a recent trend that has seen Chinese buyers take ownership of [...]
Barratt profits double on sales at six-year high July 10, 2014 Barratt Developments, the biggest housebuilder by volume in the UK, yesterday announced it expected annual pre-tax profits to double to around £390m, buoyed by higher demand from a strong property market. The earnings figures would be record-breaking for Barratt, beating analyst forecasts and up from £192m in 2013. The forecast comes as the group saw [...]
888 Holdings share price rises after it forecasts strong growth in earnings July 9, 2014 888 Holdings, operator of online gambling websites, enjoyed a near-four per cent rise in its shares to 125p yesterday, after it said it expects earnings to have risen strongly in the first half of the year. The London-listed company, based in Gibraltar, said it expects half-year earnings to be “significantly ahead” of last year’s $38.6m [...]
Reforms force Carlos Slim to split up America Movil empire July 9, 2014 America Movil, the huge Mexican telecommunications firm founded by billionaire Carlos Slim, is to break up its empire. The firm announced asset sales yesterday following regulatory reforms that could spell the end of the company’s dominant position in Mexico’s telecommunications market. The company said in a statement it would sell assets to reduce its national [...]
Supreme Court ruling in favour of BT ends dispute over 08 charges July 9, 2014 BT was boosted yesterday by winning a court ruling over the price it is able to charge mobile operators for connecting calls to fixed-line 08 numbers. The Supreme Court found in favour of BT’s right to set prices for termination charges for mobile calls to non-geographic 08 numbers, bringing to a conclusion years of disputes [...]
Monitise share price hit after revenue warning July 8, 2014 Monitise, the mobile banking and payments service, yesterday downgraded its revenue growth forecasts for the second time this year, as its business model shifted. The Aim-listed company said it expected revenue for the financial year to be between £95m and £97m, equating to revenue growth of between 31 and 33 per cent, down from its [...]
Analyst Views: What is your reaction to Monitise’s last revenue growth downgrade? July 8, 2014 BRENDAN D’SOUZA | WH IRELAND The market has been quick to punish underperformance, however the trading update is not so much a sign of a slow down but rather a more grown up attitude, as management is more cautious and looking for optimal business opportunities, focusing more on profitability, not just revenue growth. ALI FARID [...]
Profit woes for Samsung after thieves hit Brazil plant July 8, 2014 Korean giant Samsung yesterday announced a 25 per cent decline in profits for the second quarter just days after robbers hit one of its plants in Brazil, seizing millions of pounds worth of products. It was the third straight quarter of annual profit decline and Samsung said it expected operating profits to be 7.2 trillion won [...]
Vatican Bank exorcises accounts after massive fall in its earnings July 8, 2014 The Vatican Bank yesterday announced it had blocked the accounts of more than 2,000 clients and ended some 3,000 “customer relationships” as it reported net profits of just €2.9m (£2.3m) for 2013, down from €86.6m in 2012. The bank has been hit by years of scandal, including money laundering allegations, and is about to be [...]
Fear follows Gotham City as firm seeks more scalps July 7, 2014 The spectre of short-selling yesterday loomed over small caps after Gotham City Research claimed victory over Spanish firm Let’s Gowex, the target of a devastating research note, and said it would continue to cast a critical eye on other firms. Gowex has declared bankruptcy and revealed that its last four years of accounts had been [...]
