B&M Retail lines up £2.5bn stock market debut May 22, 2014 B&M RETAIL, the discount shopping chain, yesterday batted away fears of a slowdown in London’s new issues market as it unveiled plans for a £2.5bn main market float. The chain, founded in 1978 by a shopkeeper in Blackpool, said its £1.2bn turnover, ambitious expansion plans and overseas subsidiaries set the company apart from others trying [...]
Carillion awarded £300m Dubai hotels contract May 22, 2014 LONDON-LISTED construction services firm Carillion yesterday said that its joint venture business in the Middle East has signed contracts to build two new luxury hotels in Dubai, worth a total of £300m. As part of the agreement, Al Futtaim Carillion will construct a luxury 435-room hotel resort for Jumeirah Group, which will be located next [...]
City IPOs: One falls down, four rise to take its place May 22, 2014 Investors keen to be involved in the IPO of clothing chain Fat Face were disappointed last night by news that its float was to be pulled. A regulatory filing submitted this morning shows that "despite a strong level of interaction with and interest from institutional investors, the company and its majority shareholder have decided to [...]
Fat Face pulls flotation after market sours May 21, 2014 THE £300M plus flotation of the clothing retailer Fat Face, a company chaired by the former M&S chief executive Stuart Rose, was pulled last night because of a lack of investor support. News of the flotation’s difficulties came as Saga, the insurance to travel group for over 50s, announced that it was narrowing its price [...]
Consumer recovery heating up May 21, 2014 Retail sales jump by 6.9 per cent in April – the fastest year-on-year growth in a decade Mortgage lending rises by 36 per cent as Britons say they feel more secure in their jobs But policymakers at the Bank of England still voted unanimously to keep interest rates low INTEREST rates are not expected to go [...]
Carpetright’s founder Lord Harris to retire May 21, 2014 CARPETRIGHT announced yesterday that its founder Lord Harris would be retiring from the board in September along with his son Martin, spelling an end of an era for the family-run group. Lord Harris, 72, will hand over the day to day running of the business to a new chief executive, Wilf Walsh, in July. He [...]
Royal Mail plans to trial Sunday parcel delivery May 21, 2014 THE NEWLY-PRIVATISED Royal Mail is to start delivering parcels and opening its collection offices on Sundays to try and keep up with the demands of online shoppers and other postal companies. Royal Mail, which will post its first full-year results as a listed company today, plans to deliver parcels within the M25 seven days a [...]
Package services push UK Mail revenues north of £500m May 21, 2014 UK MAIL, the London-listed delivery group, said yesterday that its annual revenues have passed £500m as more online retailers use its parcel services. The firm said turnover was up seven per cent to £508.5m, while pre-tax profits rose 28 per cent to £22.8m in the year to the end of March. As well as parcel [...]
Great Portland seals record rents as demand in West End heats up May 21, 2014 WEST End landlord Great Portland Estates posted a 27.6 per cent rise in net asset value (NAV) last year as the heart of the capital continues to experience hot demand and short supply of new office space. Great Portland, whose schemes include its 200,000 square feet Hanover Square site above Bond Street’s Crossrail station, said [...]
The stiff competition facing Royal Mail May 21, 2014 Ahead of its first set of full-year results as a listed company tomorrow, Royal Mail’s announced it’s going to trial delivering parcels on Sundays. Later this summer, it’ll open about 100 offices on Sunday afternoons for customers to pick up parcels. It’ll also pilot delivering parcels within the M25; and from June, Parcelforce Worldwide, its [...]