ICAP profits down but beats forecasts May 19, 2010 ICAP – the world’s biggest interdealer broker – said active and volatile markets enabled it to make a good start to its financial year after posting a five per cent drop in full-year pre-tax profit, beating expectations. Concerns about Greece and a massive rescue package for the debt-laden country have led to wide swings in [...]
Boots in £1bn profit haul May 17, 2010 ALLIANCE Boots yesterday posted an annual profit of more than £1bn – becoming only the third UK retailer to pass that milestone. The group, taken private in 2007 in Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout, also said there was strong growth in own-brand products like No7 cosmetics. Its international wholesale operations also helped in a tough consumer [...]
Alliance Boots profit tops £1bn for first time May 17, 2010 BRITAIN’S biggest pharmacy chain Alliance Boots has posted annual profits of more than £1bn – becoming only the third UK retailer to pass that milestone. The group, bought in 2007 by private equity firm KKR and executive chairman Stefano Pessina for £11bn in Europe’s biggest leveraged buyout, said the 13 per cent increase in trading [...]
Hornby set to reveal £1bn Boots profit May 16, 2010 ANDY HORNBY, the man associated with the near-collapse of HBOS, will return to the limelight today as he announces an estimated £1bn profit at the helm of Alliance Boots. Hornby is expected to say the private equity-owned healthcare and beauty products retailer’s trading profit for the year to 31 March grew at a faster pace [...]
Blank on the long list for M&S chair May 16, 2010 HEADHUNTERS searching for a replacement to Sir Stuart Rose at Marks and Spencer have earmarked former Lloyds chairman Sir Victor Blank as a potential candidate to chair the board. JCA Group founder Jan Hall is currently putting together a long list of candidates ready for the board to whittle down. Other names that have been [...]
M&S agrees to £800m pension scheme injection May 12, 2010 RETAILER Marks & Spencer will pump £800m into its final salary pension after a review found the scheme was deeply in the red, it said yesterday. The clothing and food group said the scheme, which has about 123,000 members, had a deficit of £1.3bn at 31 March 2009, although that is likely to have since [...]
Morrisons’ sales growth slows despite record number of customers in stores May 6, 2010 SUPERMARKET giant Morrisons has seen record numbers of customers in its stores but the new financial year has been hit by a slowdown, it said in a trading statement yesterday. The group has continued to grow market share in the first quarter with sales, excluding fuel, up 5.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to [...]
M&S finance boss quits for Punch Taverns May 5, 2010 MARKS & Spencer’s incoming chief executive Mark Bolland received an unwanted welcome gift after his first day at the firm – the resignation of its finance director. Ian Dyson yesterday made the shock announcement that he will leave the firm to become chief executive of Punch Taverns, the UK’s biggest pub chain. Dyson was passed [...]
Bolland takes the helm as M&S chief May 4, 2010 A NEW era was ushered in at Marks & Spencer yesterday as former Morrisons chief Marc Bolland took the hot seat at the retailer. The Dutch executive faces the pressure of living up to a £15m remuneration package as he takes on the challenges of shaking up the company’s clothing range. Modernising the stock while [...]
Boots tops reputation poll as banks languish April 28, 2010 Alliance Boots knocked Marks & Spencer off the top spot, in a survey of company reputation. The Reputation Institute’s UK Pulse Report 2010 ranked retail brands highly but the list of 140 firms made torrid reading for the finance industry. Royal Bank of Scotland languished at 138, with Lloyds at 136 and Barclays at 129. [...]