JJB hit with FSA fine October 29, 2010 Sportswear retailer JJB Sports has been fined £455,000 by the Financial Services Authority. JJB said the fine follows the end of an FSA probe into the company’s compliance with the regulator’s disclosure and transparency rules in the lead up to its interim results in September 2008. The 250-store JJB, which teetered on the brink of [...]
State cuts to hit 50,000 firms October 13, 2010 More than 100,000 companies in Britain are in financial distress, with a combined debt pile of £58bn, according to insolvency group Begbies Traynor. The company’s Red Flag Alert report on troubled companies said around 50,000 business are likely to be hit by the government’s looming spending cuts. The report said construction, IT, recruitment and advertising [...]
Business failures in London fall by 16 per cent, says report October 12, 2010 BUSINESS failures in London fell by 16 per cent in the third quarter of 2101 compared to a year earlier, according to a new report. The Equifax Business Failures Report found failures across the country fell by 13.4 per cent year-on-year, with the number of failures for the quarter standing at 6,646. However, this is [...]
Retail insolvency rates fall to pre-2007 levels October 10, 2010 RETAIL insolvencies fell to pre-recession levels this quarter, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Just 360 firms went bust in the third quarter, a drop of 11 per cent from the second and a massive 26 per cent reduction on last year. PwC believes the improvement will be continued as most of the weaker firms [...]
Corporate insolvencies plummet in London October 8, 2010 London businesses are “leading the country out of recession” according to research that shows the number of corporate insolvencies by 28 per cent in the third quarter. Only 745 London firms went bust in the three months to September, down from 1034 in the second quarter of the year and a 35 per cent drop [...]
Swiss to impose tougher capital rules on banks October 4, 2010 Global Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse must hold capital well in excess of new international standards, a government commission said, to limit risk that a bank failure could drag down the economy. The new rules may crimp the two banks’ ability to compete in the field of investment banking, but Swiss regulators want them [...]
AIM delistings soar as M&A deals in the market increase October 3, 2010 THE NUMBER of companies removing themselves from the AIM stock market rose by 25 per cent in the last quarter to 45, according to research out today. Of the 45 firms that delisted, 20 did so because of merger and acquisitions, said law firm Trowers & Hamlins and accountant UHY Hacker Young. M&A activity now [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING September 29, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES WAITROSE EYES DUCHY ORIGINALS US PUSH Waitrose is making its first foray into the US through its Duchy Originals range, the label founded by Prince Charles. The supermarket arm of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership is talking to North American retailers and distributors about selling Duchy Originals products in US stores. PENSIONS REGULATOR [...]
LLPs are not as safe as you might think September 28, 2010 THE LIMITED Liability Partnership vehicle is now a decade old, but its uptake has reportedly surged amid economic hard times. Members of insolvent LLPs are certainly better off than their counterparts in insolvent partnerships, who must routinely dig into their own pockets to meet creditors’ claims. This summer, though, saw the first high-profile collapse of [...]
JJB warns that sales stalling September 28, 2010 Sportswear retailer JJB Sports said trading conditions had got tougher in recent weeks as shoppers brace themselves for higher taxes and big cuts in public spending. The group, which teetered on the brink of insolvency in 2009, said sales at stores open at least a year rose 18 per cent from August 2 to August [...]