AO World revenue rises 25 per cent on improved website sales November 25, 2014 Online white goods retailer AO World said total revenue rose 25.1 per cent to £384.9m in the six months to September 30. The retailer, which launched its IPO in February, said website sales increase by 38.6 per cent during this period to £173.7m. This was offset slightly by third-party website sales, which fell 11 per cent, [...]
B&Q owner Kingfisher reports falls in revenue and profit November 25, 2014 Kingfisher’s new French chief executive, Veronique Laury, faces a tough task to arrest the tumbling sales in her home country which are taking their toll on the FTSE 100 company. In its third quarter results the B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher recorded a 3.6 per cent drop in sales to £2.8bn, while retail profit [...]
Zoopla share price rises as it shrugs off the threat from Agents’ Mutual November 25, 2014 Shares at online property giant Zoopla rose 2.6 per cent as the market opened, after the company said full-year revenues had soared on the back of rising visits to the website, and as the company dismissed threats from a rival platform. The property group, which is owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), [...]
BT share price up as mobile network operators O2 and EE vie for £10bn deal November 24, 2014 British telecoms giant BT is set to play kingmaker as it prepares to buy either O2 or EE to jump-start its push into the consumer mobile market next year. BT yesterday confirmed deal talks with “two UK mobile network operators, of which one is O2”, but cautioned that talks remained “at a highly preliminary stage”. [...]
Aviva meets criticism over Friends Life deal November 24, 2014 Analysts have warned that Aviva’s share price could continue to decline, following news that the insurance group is in talks concerning a £5.6bn merger with rival Friends Life. Shares dropped by more than five per cent yesterday when the markets opened for the first time since the news broke. “The market is in a state [...]
Petrofac profits suffer as Brent tumbles further November 24, 2014 Shares in oil and gas services firm Petrofac fell by more then 26 per cent yesterday after the company issued a profit warning, citing the impact of falling oil prices. Petrofac also blamed delays and operational issues at many of its projects as it reset its expected 2015 profit to $500m (£318m) from the previous [...]
BT set to shake up the mobile market… again November 24, 2014 A decade after the British firm left mobile, it is back for more In the midst of what one BT insider described yesterday as a “financial mess” in the early 2000s the British telecoms giant spun off its BT Cellnet arm. The move in 2001 was quickly seen as a terrible strategic decision, [...]
As BT prepares to buy O2 or EE, Sky remains sceptical of need for mobile offering November 24, 2014 Pay TV group Sky, recently rebranded from BSkyB, remained unconvinced by the need for a mobile offering yesterday, after its biggest rival BT looked poised to buy either EE or O2 in a £10bn mobile deal. While Sky’s services include TV, broadband and fixed-line telephone in the UK, the £15.3bn group has yet to offer [...]
Stryker deal talk boosts Smith & Nephew share price November 24, 2014 US-based medical device company Stryker is reportedly examining the purchase of Smith & Nephew, the British manufacturer of surgical devices for orthopaedic construction. Yesterday Smith & Nephew’s stock jumped 4.4 per cent to 1,138p. The news came despite Stryker denying in May that it had any intention of making a bid for Smith & Nephew. [...]
Aviva share price falls as Friends Life shares rise: Surprised market reacts to deal bombshell November 24, 2014 The market was divided yesterday following the announcement of a planned merger between insurer Aviva and its competitor Friends Life. Aviva saw its shares fall by more than five per cent during the day, while shares in Friends Life climbed by six per cent. Most analysts agreed that the announcement was surprising, with [...]