Land Securities buys Bluewater shopping mall stake for £656m June 25, 2014 LAND Securities has bought Lend Lease’s 30 per cent stake in Britain’s fourth largest shopping centre Bluewater for £656m after a heated battle for the site. The acquisition is a coup for property giant, which has been selling several of its regional shopping centres in order to make way for acquisitions in the south east [...]
Male model Oliver Cheshire has the best job in the world June 23, 2014 For Oliver Cheshire, London Collections: Men means the chance to brush shoulders with his heroes. “It was my first ever Hackett show. I was really excited because I love Hackett, but when I got there someone was in my seat. The person turned around and it was Samuel L Jackson. The girls with the clipboards [...]
Blue Inc pulls its float as listing fears spread June 18, 2014 DISCOUNT fashion chain Blue Inc has pulled its £60m flotation plans just weeks after they were announced, after a disappointing performance for London’s recent initial public offerings. The company last night said it would instead proceed with a private share placing with institutional investors, given demand remains strong. On 30 May, Blue Inc had announced [...]
Primark in talks to buy £60m Birmingham shopping centre June 9, 2014 DISCOUNT fashion retailer Primark is close to sealing a deal to a buy an entire shopping centre in Birmingham for around £60m. The company is in advanced talks to buy the 250,000 square feet Pavilions shopping centre from UBS’s Triton Property Fund, with a deal expected to be confirmed as soon as this week. It [...]
After share price crash Asos warns on profits and investors slam Morrisons June 5, 2014 SOME of Britain’s biggest retailers were left reeling yesterday after a profits warning from Asos spooked investors and supermarket bosses came under a fierce verbal attack from angry shareholders. Asos shares crashed 31 per cent, wiping £1.2bn off its market value, after the online fashion retailer warned that a strong pound and a rise in [...]
M&S’s Swannell to help the state sell off assets May 27, 2014 ROBERT Swannell, the chairman of Marks & Spencer, is to become the chair of the Shareholder Executive as the government body gears up for more privatisations and restructuring this year. Swannell, who joined the Shareholder Executive as a non-exec in January, will take over from Patrick O’Sullivan, who is leaving after two and a half [...]
Student loans, uranium, and six other things on the Shareholder Executive’s to-do list May 27, 2014 The government’s Shareholder Executive announced today that it has picked Robert Swannell as its new chair. Swannell, who is also chairman of Marks & Spencer, has been on the board of the group since January, giving him some experience of the group's various portfolio companies. Here are some of the projects that are [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 May 2014 May 22, 2014 FINANCIAL TIMES Corrupt companies face higher fines British companies that bribe foreign officials to win contracts, commit fraud, or launder money, face fines of up to 400 per cent of their illicit profits, under new penalty guidelines. In the most serious cases companies will pay fines comparable with those meted out in the US, where [...]
Best of the Brokers for 23 May 2014 May 22, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com MARKS & SPENCER UBS has kept its “neutral” rating for the high street shop, but cut its target from 475p to 465p after this week’s results, which were slightly better than expected. The broker thinks M&S’s three-year recovery plan has been disappointing so far, [...]
M&S warns new website will hit clothing sales May 20, 2014 MARKS & Spencer warned yesterday that the launch of its new website will deliver a further blow to its already fragile general merchandise sales, as the high street retailer reported a third year of falling profits. Chief executive Marc Bolland admitted the website “will take four to six months to be at full strength” as [...]