Hunger for profits takes a bite from Chiquito owner’s shares January 9, 2013 THE FTSE 100 is at a four-year high, but you’d still have been better off plumping for mid-range dining rather than blue chip heavyweights over the last six months. The index hasn’t even managed a 10 per cent increase since mid-July, but the Restaurant Group’s shares have risen some 30 per cent over the same [...]
Results season start drags on cliff euphoria January 8, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday, retreating from last week’s rally on the “fiscal cliff” deal in Washington, as companies started to report results for the fourth quarter. After a 4.3 per cent jump in the two sessions around the close of the fiscal cliff negotiations, the S&P has declined a bit, with investors finding few catalysts [...]
What the other papers say this morning January 2, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES BofA raises lending after years of cuts Bank of America is ramping up mortgage and corporate lending after two years of focusing on capital levels and cost-cutting. Chief executive Brian Moynihan said the company should overtake JPMorgan Chase in direct-to-consumer mortgage lending in the next six months and he had directed bankers to [...]
There’s more to Nassau than relaxation and sun January 1, 2013 IN NASSAU, a red 1970 Gold Leaf Lotus Élan, zooms up the hill. A chequered flag waves and a yellow 1957 Ferrari 500 can be spotted up ahead, with a blue Aston Martin DB5 shimmering in the tropical sun in the distance. Someone who looks like Sean Connery is shaking hands with spectators. It could [...]
Whitbread in £51m sale and leaseback of Premier Inns December 18, 2012 HOTEL and restaurant group Whitbread has agreed a £51m sale and leaseback deal on seven Premier Inn sites, as it frees up cash to spend on its expansion. The FTSE 100 firm, which also owns Costa, yesterday said it is to sell the buildings to NFU Mutual and Standard Life Assurance, which will lease them [...]
South Place is a haven for the denizens of Silicon Roundabout December 17, 2012 REVIEW SOUTH PLACE HOTEL 3 South Place, EC2M 2AF 020 3503 0000 The music, man, it reminds me of last night. It makes me want to dance.” These words are probably not what you expect to hear from the reception staff at a new opening by D&D Group – the company behind Coq d’Argent, Le [...]
Head to Lapland for a trip that is truly wondrous December 16, 2012 WE ARE due to land in Kittila in 20 minutes. There are light winds and it’s a little bit chilly on the ground with temperatures of minus 38,” the captain says as we descend on Finnish Lapland. Many people know Lapland as the home of Father Christmas, and some might recognize its snowy scenes from [...]
Queen and Prince Philip inspect Bank of England’s gold stash December 13, 2012 WHEN they weren’t making insightful observations on the state of the UK’s financial regulation yesterday, The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh seemed to enjoy the rest of their visit to the vaults of the Bank of England yesterday. As tradition dictates, the Queen and Prince Philip both signed an unissued £1m [...]
Costa buzzing as fury over rival boosts sales December 11, 2012 CONSUMER anger over the tax affairs of its main rival was highlighted as a reason for better-than-expected sales figures from Costa Coffee yesterday. The UK’s largest coffee chain saw a 7.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 29 November, Costa’s parent company Whitbread said yesterday. Commentators put some of this [...]
Buoyant central London is in an economic world of its own December 10, 2012 IF you work or live in central London, you could be forgiven for not believing that the UK remains stuck in a nasty stagnation, let alone at risk of a triple-dip recession, as Vince Cable intimated yesterday. The shops are full, the tubes jam-packed and new skyscrapers are being built; Fortnum and Mason, the department [...]