Clooney’s a cold-blooded class act November 25, 2010 Film THE AMERICAN Cert: 15 IN THIS thriller directed by Anton Corbijn (who made the excellent Control, about Joy Division singer Ian Curtis) George Clooney plays Jack, an American hit man at large in Europe. In the opening scene his Swedish idyll is disturbed by some enigmatic assassins sent to kill him – after expertly dealing [...]
Time Out owner sells £10m stake November 25, 2010 Oakley Capital has bought a 50 per cent stake in Time Out, in a deal that values the iconic magazine at more than £20m. Founder Tony Elliot has been searching for an investor but was determined to resist being snapped up by a larger media company. He is understood to have made at least £3m [...]
DMGT profits soar as cost cuts kick in November 25, 2010 DAILY Mail General Trust (DMGT) yesterday reported a boost in its national newspaper division, with the Daily Mail and Metro both recording record operating profits. Group revenue slipped six per cent for the year but pre-tax profit climbed 23 per cent as cost cutting measures kicked in. The publisher saw overall profits at Associated Newspapers [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF DMGT’S RESULTS? November 25, 2010 LORNA TILBIAN | NUMIS It is encouraging in business-to-business, with the group guiding to good growth. Business-to-consumer is more mixed, with Associated starting the new fiscal year well, but Northcliffe still challenging. PAUL GOODEN | RBS Given the accounting hit we expect consensus earnings to remain unchanged for 2010 to 2011. With strong share price [...]
Cook takes Russian trip with Intourist tourist November 25, 2010 EUROPE’S second-largest tour operator Thomas Cook is buying more than half of Russian rival Intourist to enter the growing Russian travel market. Cook will invest up to $45m (£28.5m) – $10m in cash and $35m in its shares – in the venture for the 50.1 per cent stake. It said the deal would enable it [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 25, 2010 Grant Thornton Grant Thornton has appointed a new head of retail: Barry Knight. Knight brings 20 years’ of financial advising experience in retail, tourism and travel. He has worked for Littlewoods, Burton Group (now Arcadia Group), Sears, Selfridges, Jaeger and Boots. In his new role at Grant Thornton, he will be leading the retail team [...]
Emigration from UK falls to ten-year low November 25, 2010 EMIGRATION from the UK plummeted in 2009, according to government figures released yesterday. And more pressure was piled on the Conservative pledge to cap net migration after it increased to 198,000 – but only because of the drop in people leaving. Immigration actually fell by 23,000. The number of UK citizens leaving the country decreased [...]
ALSO OUT November 25, 2010 FILM MACHETE Robert Rodriguez does a blood-spattered, star-studded pastiche of cheapo Mexican films. THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNETS’ NEST Third and final part in the Stieg Larsson trilogy adaptation. WAITING FOR SUPERMAN Passionate documentary about America’s troubled education system. DVD TOY STORY 3 The third Toy Story film is as gloriously enjoyable as its [...]
Retailers confident of Christmas boom as sales rise again November 25, 2010 RETAIL sales have unexpectedly shot up in the UK, according to figures released yesterday. In a survey conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), 55 per cent of retailers said sales were up compared to this time last year. Only 13 per cent said that sales had fallen. And confidence is returning to the [...]
Slump in Japanese exports to harm GDP growth as inflation falls again November 25, 2010 JAPAN’S export market stalled in October, failing to grow on the previous month, it was announced yesterday. Compared to October 2009 Japanese exports grew 7.8 per cent, yet this was below the Bloomberg median projection of 10.7 per cent – and far weaker than September’s year-on-year growth of 14.3 per cent. Year-on-year improvements peaked in February, [...]