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Sports Direct scores profit rise but Mike Ashley’s company hurt by England’s poor World Cup September 10, 2014 Sports Direct enjoyed an 11.8 per cent rise in profit for the period ending 27 July 2014 , yet the sportswear retailer was hurt by England's early World Cup exit. The company founded by Newcastle United chairman Mike Ashley reported a 12.2 per cent increase in sales from £631m to £711.2m, while gross profit also [...]
Mike Ashley retains House of Fraser stake as Nanjing Xinjiekou sale goes through September 2, 2014 The sale of department store House of Fraser to Chinese conglomerate Nanjing Xinjiekou has gone through today – with Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley retaining his 11 per cent stake. The deal values the business at around £480m – probably more than it would have valued at, had chairman Don McCarthy gone through with [...]
Brixton’s Deng unfazed by replacing star LeBron August 28, 2014 FOLLOWING in the footsteps of former Miami Heat standard bearer and the most famous player on the planet LeBron James might seem a daunting prospect, but not for transatlantic basketball star Luol Deng. The 29-year-old Great Britain forward signed a two-year deal in July worth $20m with Eastern Conference side Miami, who were earlier this [...]
Twitch – what is it and why has Amazon just spent nearly $1bn on it? August 26, 2014 Back in May the word was that Google was eyeing up games social platform Twitch, but last night Amazon emerged as the triumphant bidder, nearly four times what Jeff Bezos paid for The Washington Post. Just what is Twitch and why does everyone want a piece? Essentially, it's video-game voyeurism: Twitch is currently the centre of [...]
Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United set to continue for “at least five years” August 20, 2014 The Glazer family’s ownership of Manchester United is set to continue for at least another five years, it has been reported. The news will disappoint disgruntled United fans staging an anti-Glazer protest ahead of a home fixture against QPR next Saturday afternoon. Large sections of the United fanbase have long been opposed to the ownership of [...]
Best of the Brokers for 06 August 2014 August 5, 2014 To appear in Best of the Brokers, email your research to notes@cityam.com BSKYB Numis keeps its “buy’ rating for BSkyB and raised its target price by 41p to 982p following last week’s strong full-year results and the purchase of Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia from 21st Century Fox. BSkyB forecasts synergy benefits at £200m by [...]
Duke of Edinburgh falls for Cowes Week magic as City seafarers set sail August 4, 2014 It's that time of year again, when the City’s yachting enthusiasts get to spend the week brushing sea spray out of their windswept locks instead of sweating it out in the Big Smoke. Yes, it’s Cowes Week. King of the City seafarers Martin Gilbert, chief executive of lead sponsor Aberdeen Asset Management held not [...]
Fans join legal fight to have European football’s financial fair play rules thrown out July 28, 2014 European football’s financial fair play (FFP) rules face a fresh legal challenge after English supporters joined forces with fans on the Continent to oppose the regulations. Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain, the English and French champions, have suffered the toughest sanctions under FFP. Both were handed fines of €60m (£49m) and reluctantly accepted limits on [...]
Sky Europe: What will BSkyB’s new TV empire look like? July 25, 2014 Sky Europe, as BSkyB has now been dubbed after buying up its Italian and German counterparts for between £5bn and £7bn, will span six countries and reach 20 million customers. With the purchase, total revenue across the new company will exceed the £10bn mark, largely driven by UK operations, and “synergies” as they say (read [...]
UK car production up 3.5 per cent so far this year July 24, 2014 Car manufacturing in the UK rose by 3.5 per cent in the first half of the year to hit nearly 800,000 units produced, helped by the launch of a range of new models, with more anticipated in the months ahead. The figures from the industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), showed [...]