Everton takeover: Are the club really worth £200m? A former director explains what Farhad Moshiri will consider February 27, 2016 As the club’s Commercial Director, I helped Everton to achieve their aim of becoming one of the 20 richest clubs according to the annual Deloitte Football Club report. It was felt that, by attaining this position, Everton would be attractive to prospective purchasers. That was ten years ago, and they have still not found a buyer [...]
RBS share price plummets as litigation costs mount for RBS – but losses narrow February 26, 2016 Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) shares plummeted 10.5 per cent to 218.3p as markets opened, despite losses narrowing to just under £2bn last year. Still, it's its eighth straight year of losses. The figures RBS said its loss attributable to ordinary shareholders hit £1.98bn last year, down from £3.47bn in 2014. Total income fell to £12.92bn, from £15.15bn last year, while pre-tax profits [...]
Gap’s share price falls after reporting downbeat full-year earnings outlook February 25, 2016 After announcing a fairly downbeat full-year earnings outlook, retailer Gap's share price slid over four per cent in after hours trading. The company said that it now expects diluted earnings per share to be in the range of $2.20 – $2.25 for the 2016 fiscal year, against expectations of $2.44 per share. The news came as [...]
Countrywide blames volatile residential sales market for 40 per cent drop in profits February 25, 2016 Britain's largest residential property services group Countrywide suffered a 40 per cent slump in profits last year after a slowdown in house sales following the General Election and increasing competition from online agents took its toll on the group. The company, which owns 50 high street brands including Hamptons, Blundells and John D Wood, said pre-tax profits slumped to £47.7m in [...]
Surprise: Lloyds Banking Group share price leaps as it hikes dividend – but profits are hit by PPI charges February 25, 2016 Lloyds Banking Group shares leaped this morning as it hiked its dividend – but more PPI charges dented its pre-tax profits. Read more: Lloyds cuts bonuses for 2015 The figures Lloyds said underlying profits rose five per cent on last year to £8.1bn in 2015, while total income rose one per cent to £17.6bn. Operating costs fell to £8.3bn, while impairment charges fell 48 per cent to £568m. [...]
City Moves for 25 February 2016 | Who’s switching jobs February 25, 2016 Maples Teesdale Jo Preece has been appointed as a senior associate in the construction team at Maples Teesdale LLP. She has experience of working on development schemes, acquisitions and disposals, lettings and financings, having advised the likes of Almacantar, Capital & Counties, Intu Shopping Centres, Lend Lease and Standard Life. She previously worked as a [...]
Shopping centre giant Westfield pushes ahead with $10.5bn expansion as annual profits rise February 24, 2016 Westfield Corporation, the Australian shopping centre behemoth that owns two of London’s biggest malls, delivered upbeat results for 2015, in its first full-year since splitting its empire into two. The retail landlord, which spun off its Australian and New Zealand operations into a separate business in 2014 to focus on its growing international business, made [...]
Retailers scaling back investment plans as sales expectations hit lowest since 2013 – CBI February 24, 2016 Retailers are scaling back investment plans after weak sales growth as expectations of sales weaken. The sales balance from the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) distributive trades survey published this morning dropped to 10 points in February from 16 in January. Expectations of sales for the next month are at their lowest since May 2013. Investment intentions for [...]
Airbus full year results miss expectations but hikes dividend as chief executive Tom Enders hails a “solid performance” February 24, 2016 Civil aviation and defence company Airbus has reported net profit rose by 15 per cent over the course of 2015 to €2.7bn (£2.1bn), while sales were up by six per cent to €64.5bn. The numbers came in just below analyst expectations but Airbus still managed to eke out at dividend rise of eight per cent [...]
City Moves for 24 February 2016 | Who’s switching jobs February 24, 2016 GN2 Tim Warren has joined central London property firm GN2 after nearly eight years at Cluttons LLP to lead in the expansion of their investment advisory offer. Tim has over 23 years’ experience and has been appointed director and head of the central London sales & investment team, based in the West End. Tim will [...]