All eyes on Christmas for Thorntons as sales jump October 7, 2009 CHOCOLATE retailer Thorntons yesterday said it was well-positioned for Christmas as it posted a 2.3 per cent rise in first-quarter sales, sending its shares up by five per cent in morning trading. Thorntons, which trades from 378 stores and 199 franchises, said its total sales increased to £46.8m in the 14 weeks to 3 October, [...]
Q & A : WHERE HAVE THE STRIKE THREATS COME FROM? October 7, 2009 Q. WHAT ARE THE UNIONS OPPOSING?A. On Tuesday, British Airways announced it was cutting 1,700 jobs and was introducing a two-year pay freeze for cabin crew as it looks to cut costs in the downturn. It also said it would recruit new staff on different terms and conditions to current employees. Unite has denounced the [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 5, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESUK COURT RELAXES CURB ON SAAD CASHA bitter legal dispute involving prominent Saudi Arabian businesses and families opened in the English courts yesterday, with Maan al Sanea failing to overturn a $9.2bn (£5.8bn) freezing order on his worldwide assets. The High Court eased the order to allow the billionaire $4m spending money a year [...]
A pull back on gold is on the cards, or so the cycles say October 4, 2009 THERE seems to be a general consensus that gold is going to continue its recent powerful rally. All sorts of projected targets have been mentioned, from the not too far away $1,050 all the way through $1,200 and even as high as $2,300. Such elevated levels may eventually be reached but for the time being [...]
Retailers facing a tough Xmas October 4, 2009 MANY struggling British retailers will face a bleaker Christmas than they did last year, when 15 major chains failed, according to insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor. Christmas is a crucial trading period for retailers but soaring unemployment and low consumer confidence is expected to result in more firms facing financial difficulty. “Christmas 2009 could see just [...]
She came in as a scruffbag and left ready to conquer Goldman’s October 4, 2009 AT LAST, after a hideous year, firms are hiring again. But to stand out from the crowd stampeding back to the job market, you’ll need to do everything in your power to look the part. First impressions are the most powerful and can be near impossible to shift – so the interview is where you’ve [...]
Trying to second-guess stocks is harder than ever October 4, 2009 EQUITY investors haven’t had much time for cliché this year. Earlier this year, they ignored dire predictions – coming from anyone with a keyboard or a microphone – that financial markets might never recover. Instead, they seized upon historically low valuations – and the trillions spent by governments around the world – and began the [...]
Aviva puts saga of inherited estates to bed in 470m deal October 1, 2009 AVIVA said it will hand out a £470m windfall to around 805,000 policyholders that invested in two of its with-profits funds by Christmas. The special payout comes from inherited estates built up by the funds – pots of money that were hoarded in boom markets to protect against market downturns. The reattribution of the inherited [...]
M&S thanks its Wise Buys for a revival September 30, 2009 MARKS & Spencer, the high street bellwether, yesterday unveiled better-than-expected results which the City took as encouraging signs the worst may be over after 18 tough months for the retailer. M&S said group sales had lifted by 2.7 per cent in the 13 weeks to 26 September, and while like-for-like sales dipped 0.5 per cent, [...]
Price war to start as Voda grabs iPhone September 29, 2009 VODAFONE said yesterday that it has sealed a deal to sell Apple’s iPhone in the UK, likely sparking a price war between the three biggest mobile networks. Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue, said it will be able to sell the must-have device from early 2010, though it did not confirm an exact [...]