Oil majors curb the FTSE 100 despite solid corporate news February 3, 2011 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, hurt by Royal Dutch Shell as the oil major’s results were met with disappointment, while drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline rose after it decided to push ahead with a buyback programme. The FTSE 100 shed 16.73 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 5,983.34, after closing 0.7 per cent higher on Wednesday. The [...]
THE FAMOUS FIVE – ENGLAND’S FOES February 2, 2011 Italy NICK MALLETT’S Italy remain a work in progress, and will have their work cut out again to not collect the wooden spoon, as they have done for the past three years. But there are some positives, and the Azzurri are becoming more competitive, thanks in part to domestic powerhouses Benetton Treviso and Aironi Rugby’s [...]
Intelligent luxury for smart skiers at Les Domaines February 2, 2011 THE new Alpine luxury is understated, contemporary elegance in a traditional-looking wood building, with lots of hand-crafted features and discreet state-of-the-art facilities. It is located in a small and original village – not a purpose-built concrete bunker. These days, intelligent luxury means completely no-hassle holidays – you own your own property, but it is fully [...]
US corporate results cheer February 2, 2011 A BEVY of American corporations posted forecast-beating results yesterday, benefiting from a resurgence in advertising budgets and consumer spending over the Christmas period. Media giant News Corp said its quarterly net income had jumped from $254m (£157m) to $642m on the strength of its TV businesses, though a $500m settlement charge last year depressed comparable [...]
JD Sports on takeover talks for JJB February 2, 2011 Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has approached its struggling rival JJB Sports about a possible takeover offer, the two companies said. JD Sports said it was in “early stage” discussions with JJB’s board, while JJB Sports described the talks as “highly preliminary.” Both companies said there was no certainty an offer would be made by [...]
THE TIPSTER February 1, 2011 THE pound continues to push higher after positive manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) figures yesterday threw further doubt on the accuracy of last weeks poor fourth quarter GDP figures. Comments from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) that the Bank of England may have to raise rates three times by the end of [...]
Greencore delays vote at Northern January 31, 2011 GREENCORE successfully postponed Northern Foods’ shareholder meeting yesterday, giving it more time to put together an improved offer to rival Boparan’s £342m takeover. Northern Foods and Greencore, which agreed to merge in November before Boparan intervened, held meetings with the Takeover Panel over the weekend to decide whether to cancel their planned votes on the [...]
US factory and spending data see solid growth January 31, 2011 Factory data for the US midwest rose to a 22 and a half-year-high in January on strong orders and employment prospects, adding to hopes the US economy will stay on a solid growth path this year. A second dataset has also shown that consumer spending ended 2010 on a firmer footing, a trend expected to [...]
Businesses can’t blame it all on weatherman January 30, 2011 WON’T blame it on myself, I’ll blame it on the weatherman”. So sang rubbish Irish girl group B*Witched in their 1999 number one hit. Over a decade later business leaders are following their lead. In December it snowed in the UK. In January we heard that people bought fewer Airfix models and drank less beer. [...]
The budget hotel chain boss who says that bigger is certainly better January 30, 2011 NO wonder Guy Parsons, Travelodge’s boss, was feeling so chipper about life when we met earlier this month. He had just announced that very same day a £300m investment to build a further 35 hotels this year, which will expand his empire to 495 hotels with 35,841 rooms by next Christmas. Also, the key part [...]