Are Manchester United really about to become Qatar’s latest high-profile buy? December 19, 2010 WHEN Manchester United visited Qatar in January it was touted as a sunshine break, a chance for their title-chasing players to escape from the freezing conditions gripping England at the start of the year. But it also prompted whispers that the country’s most famous club were sounding out appetite to invest in United, or even [...]
Hammerson in exclusive talks to buy British malls worth £400m December 16, 2010 PROPERTY firm Hammerson has entered exclusive talks to buy six shopping centres worth around £400m from Kuwaiti property company St Martins, a source familiar with the deal said yesterday. Retail-focused Hammerson is the preferred bidder for malls including Centrale in Croydon and West 45 in Hammersmith, as well as several retail parks that includes Riverside [...]
London misses rates ballot December 14, 2010 RETAILERS across the UK will be balloted on whether they want to pay extra on their business rates to help bankroll local projects – but London has missed out because a rate has already been imposed. The government – under pressure from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) – has made it a legal requirement for rate-setting local [...]
FTSE 100 nudges higher on oil firms but miners miss out December 14, 2010 BRITAIN’S leading share index pushed higher yesterday, led by energy stocks with BP boosted by Royal Dutch Shell bid interest talk. The FTSE 100 index ended up 30.46 points, or 0.5 per cent at 5,891.21, a closing level not seen since June 2008. “Volumes remain thin, but the FTSE keeps going up, with oils adding [...]
FTSE closes highest since June 2008 December 14, 2010 LONDON’S stock indices advanced again today after UK inflation figures and thin volumes failed to hold back its gains. The FTSE 100 index closed up 30.46 points or 0.5 per cent at 5,891.21, its best performance since June 2008, despite trading which analysts described as “lacklustre”. In contrast, the mid-market FTSE250 hit three year high, [...]
A new haven for gentlemen December 13, 2010 DESPITE the growing popularity of beauty products aimed at men, the prevailing wisdom in the grooming industry is that the majority of bloke-orientated creams, cleansers, colognes and aftershaves are bought for men by women. Some retailers put that figure as high as 70 per cent. While we’re more used to slathering ourselves in lotions and [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING December 12, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES CREDIT SUISSE TO ISSUE COCOS EARLY Credit Suisse’s chief executive said he hoped to begin issuing billions of dollars in contingent-capital bonds in the next year to help shore up the bank’s financial strength well ahead of new Swiss regulations. Brady Dougan also defended Credit Suisse’s decision to award one-off payments to about [...]
L’Occitane majority shareholder cashes in £86m worth of its shares December 12, 2010 L’OCCITANE International said its controlling shareholder has sold $136m (£86m) worth of its shares at HK$21.14 (£1.72) each, or a 1.9 per cent discount to Friday’s closing price, in a share placement. The French skincare products retailer said the share sale allowed its controlling shareholder, the L’Occitane Groupe (LOG), to monetise a small portion of [...]
PERSONAL FINANCE NEWS December 9, 2010 NEW INVESTMENT MANAGER AT SPARK Albion Ventures has been appointed the investment manager of SPARK VCT and SPARK VCT 2, both technology venture capital investment funds. SPARK is planning to move its fund management focus away from retail funds and towards regional and institutional funds, and is bringing in a new manager to try to achieve that. They also [...]
Banks propel FTSE upwards after interest rates decision December 9, 2010 BANKS helped Britain’s top shares rise yesterday after the Bank of England kept interest rates and quantitative easing measures unchanged, while US jobs figures raised hopes that a recovery was under way. The FTSE 100 was up 13.43 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 5,807.96, eradicating Wednesday’s losses, though gains were muted, with some traders [...]